The End of the Sith
by NedeserThul
Summary: Mara Jade has been tasked to kill Luke Skywalker. To that end, she has infiltrated Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine as a dancer and there she waits until the Jedi Knight arrives. As usual when the Jedi is involved, things don't go as planned and Mara Jade finds herself in a face to face confrontation with Luke Skywalker. See also: Host from the Past and Dark Lords of the Sith.
1. Chapter 1: Jabba's Palace

Oh how she hated this place. The room, the palace, the very planet was a cesspool of misery, fear and despair. Suddenly, a call from Jabba the Hutt brought Mara Jade, alias Arica, to her feet. With a winning smile, a sway in her hips and an internal sigh of resignation, she began to dance. Of all the missions Emperor Palpatine had sent her on, this was, by far and away the most miserable. Still, she was the Emperor's hand and his wish was her command. When the Emperor had said, "Find Luke Skywalker and kill him," she had obeyed without question. Now here she was in the palace of the most infamous Hutt crime lord alive today dancing on and waiting for the vaunted Luke Skywalker, supposed Jedi Knight and hero of the Rebel Allience, to arrive and rescue his friend – well, now it was actually 'friends'.

The first to arrive at the palace on Tatooine had been a pair of droids – an R2 astromech droid and a 3PO protocol droid. They were an odd pair, too. The astro droid had carried a message from the so-called Jedi Knight that, in the most diplomatic and polite tones had demanded for the release of Han Solo, the smuggler turned Rebel hero who had failed to pay a large some of money owed to Jabba the Hutt. Skywalker had even included the droids as gifts to Jabba. Of course, the massive green slug had laughed and refused but had kept the droids.

Next, Princess Leia Organa and the mighty wookie warrior Chewbacca had showed up in disguises. The princess was in the armor of the Ubeze bounty hunter Boussh and the wookie was shackled. The night that they had arrived the princess had deftly managed to get herself caught after freeing Han Solo from his carbonite frame. Now, instead of the smuggler being rescued, he, the princess, the wookie and the droids were all held by Jabba.

Mara chuckled inwardly at the development. At this point, Skywalker would have to come himself because there was no one else who could possibly come and save the captive rebels. The Rebel Allience was far to busy conduction raids and fighting pointless battles against the mighty Empire. As she swayed and twisted and moved to the music the band played, she settled in to wait, even enjoying herself. She loved to dance. It was one of the few pleasures in her life. When the song finished, she slipped over to the side and languidly stood next to one of the guards. He looked to be a dark skinned human in battle armor and carrying a vibroaxe. She smiled and winked at him. "So what's your name and how long have you worked here?"

She saw a flash of white teeth under the masked helmet and the guard answered in a thick outerrim accent, "Skreej. Tamtel Skreej – and who might you be, beautiful?"

Mara imitated a sultry giggle and leaned against the man. "Call me Arica, Tamtel. How long have you worked for the mighty Jabba the Hutt?"

The man allowed his arm to casually find its way around her until she felt his hand on the small of her back. If she hadn't had a roll to play, she would have ripped his arm out of socket and beaten him to death with it. "Oh I'm fairly new. Less than a standard year in fact but the pay is excellent and it seems like no one ever messes with the boss so it appears to be a safe job – providing you keep your nose clean and don't draw attention to yourself."

Mara smiled winningly. "Well maybe we'll be able to get to know one another as time goes on. Right now, though, I need to sit down for awhile and rest my feet. I hope I'll see you later, Tamtel."

To her surprise, the man took her hand, raised the masked helmet and kissed it graciously, "I hope so too, Arica."

Mara smiled sweetly on the outside but on the inside, she was rolling her eyes. _Men._ She found a small seat in the corner and sat down, crossed her long, shapely legs and waited. The hours crawled by. Mara only knew that the suns were setting by feel as her body became fatigued and her mind became sleepy. Several times, she stood and moved around the throne room, both to stay awake and to find the best position by which she could get an angle to attempt to kill Skywalker when he arrived. She had just settled in to another corner within view of the entrance to the room and an escape path she could most easily fight to when she felt a ripple in the force. Someone was approaching – someone powerful. Reaching out towards the presence, she brushed it with her own. The presence noticed her and she was amazed at its touch. It was so bright! The only consciousness she had ever touched were the Emperor's and Darth Vader's. They were vast clouds of dark power but this one was like looking into a star - every bit as vast as the others but bright and full of life. She wanted to plunge herself into it. She wanted to experience the feelings and emotions of it. Instead, she withdrew hastily. This _must_ be Skywalker. Within minutes, a dark robed figure came into view lead by the twi'lek majordamo Bib Fortuna. The hood of his robe covered his head and cast his face deep into shadow though Mara was certain she had seen a flash of blue from within as they focused momentarily on her. Calmly, she began to inch towards one of the guards. Skywalker was speaking to the recently awakened Jabba the Hutt. Mara didn't listen to what the wanna-be Jedi was saying. She didn't care. Her mission was to kill him and she would. Suddenly, a blaster barrel poked her in the spine and a hiss came from behind her. "And just what do you think you're doing, Arica?"

Mara recognized the voice. It belonged to another dancer - and apparently security operative - Melina Carniss "Melina? What are you doing? Why are you pointing a blaster at me?"

Melina snorted at the sound of Mara's mock-frightened voice. "Nice try, assassin. It's my job to recognize threats. You're coming with me."

Melina grabbed Mara by the back of her neck and lead her away to the dungeons. They stank. They smelled of mildew and rot and death. Three gamoreans were lounging around the processing room. Mara already had a plan formulated in order to escape. Calling on the force, she caused Melina's blaster hand to jerk towards the gamoreans and the weapon fired, killing one of them. The other two leapt up in rage and attacked Melina while Mara simply slipped away towards where she was certain Skywalker would end up - the rancor pit below the throne room. From the dungeon was a way to a small door that led into the pit. She pushed and shoved her way through the group until she could look through the grate. Skywalker looked like he was in trouble. The rancor had him backed against the wall. It slowly stalked towards him. Suddenly, Skywalker bent down and picked up something - a rock or perhaps a skull - and threw it. The throw was good. It hit a switch that dropped the massive door right onto the rancor's huge shoulders, crushing it. It gave a single strangled sob before dying. Mara cursed and slowly eased back through the crowed. She had to give the Jedi wanna-be some credit. He knew how to get himself out of tight spots. She slipped discretely back into the throne room where Jabba was throwing a fit, demanding the presents of all the prisoners. Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Chewbacca were all brought there before him. The princess was trussed up in a very revealing dancer's outfit and was forced to lounge before Jabba, a chain around her neck. Mara couldn't help but feel the very smallest pang of sympathy for a very short moment. When this was all over, Leia Organa, once proud member of the now disbanded Imperial Senate, would be left alone with the giant slug and be forced to do his every disgusting whim. The gold protocol droid was explaining Jabba's plans for his prisoners. "You will, therefore, be taken to the Dune Sea and cast into the pit of Carcoon. There you will experience a new definition of pain and suffering as you are slowly digested over a thousand years."

Mara winced. That was a hell of an execution - or was it torture? No matter. Slowly, the guards gathered and took the prisoners towards the hanger where a sail barge and a dozen or so skiffs were maintained. Mara tried to stay close to Jabba, pretending to be a loyal and dutiful servant and praying that he either wouldn't notice or would invite her along if he did. Suddenly, one of the guards grabbed her arm. "What do you think you're doing, Arica?"

It was Tamtel Sweej. She smiled brightly. "I'm one of the master's dancers. After the excitement of the execution, I'm sure a dance is just what he'll need to calm down, don't you think Tamtel?"

The guard's white teeth flashed under his mask. "I know it helps me relax for sure. Well, let's make sure the boss is okay with that."

Mara cursed inwardly as the guard caught Jabba's attention. The golden droid translated his words. "The mighty Jabba demands to know why you are here in the garage, Miss Arica."

Mara cursed inwardly again but smiled and cocked her hip seductively, "I'm one of your dancers, mightiness. I was hoping to come along and see the execution."

"The exulted Jabba says that there is no reason to take you along since the execution and the princess will be entertainment enough for him."

"Your greatness, please. I wish to see these fools die. Could I not come along? I'll do anything if you'll let me." Mara ran one hand along her curvaceous form suggestively, trying to entice the mind of the disgusting Hutt. He sat there quietly as if in though. Suddenly, he laughed and spoke again. "The great Jabba admires your loyalty and zeal. He grants your request to accompany him, Miss Arica."

Mara suppressed a sigh of relief as she hurried on board with the guards and prisoners.

The sarlacc pit gave Mara a bad feeling. It was a terrible sight - a giant, tooth lined whole with a strange, beak looking thing in the middle and tentacles or tongues or whatever sticking out of the sand, grasping at anything that came too close. She felt another tiny pang of sympathy for the rebels, even if they were about to receive justice for their treasonous actions. She by the window close to Jabba and the princess, watching as Skywalker, Solo and Chewbacca were positioned, awaiting the orders that would send them into the great pit. The droid began to speak again. "Victims of the almighty sarlacc, his excellency hopes that you will die honorably. But should any of you wish to beg for mercy, the great Jabba the Hutt will now listen to your plea."

The smuggler shouted something about Jabba being a slimy piece of worm-ridden filth and the execution was put in motion. The first of the rebels to be forced onto the plank was none other than Luke Skywalker himself. On the very edge, he gave a salute and Mara frowned. Was that just a last good-bye or a signal to someone? The Hutt gave his command and Luke Skywalker stepped off the plank, only to spin, grab it and use it as a spring board to leap into the midst of the guards. Mara's eyes caught a sparkle of something in the air and she reached out instinctively for it with the force. She grabbed it, recognizing the cylindrical hilt of a lightsaber. Suddenly, it was seized in a grasp of great power and pulled to the Jedi's hand. With the familiar snap-hiss, a brilliant green blade leapt to life and Mara knew that everything had gone terribly wrong for the Hutt and his guards. Skywalker was cutting through them with ease. Cursing, Mara whirled around, looking for anyway to ensure that she could complete her mission. She attempted to run up onto the deck but rough hands grabbed her and dragged her back to Jabba. The Hutt said something but the droid was no longer there to translate. The meaning in it was clear, however. She wasn't going anywhere. She could only wait and listen as blaster fire and screams came in through the view ports. Mara lost track of time as her frustration grew. Suddenly, the last guards ran topside and the Hutt released Mara and began to utter strangled noises. Princess Leia Organa had climbed behind the Hutt and through the chain around his neck and was strangling him with it. Mara nodded in grim satisfaction and ran topside.

Up on the deck of the barge was chaos. Skywalker had somehow managed to climb up there and was decimating the guards. Mara picked up one of the vibropikes and hefted it, testing its weight. It was a little bulky but useable. Mara wanted to attack immediately but there were still too many guards around Skywalker. Suddenly, from behind her came the princess. Princess Leia ignored Mara, probably thinking her another escaping slave. Mara paid her no mind. "Get the gun," yelled Skywalker. "Point it at the deck!"

Mara began to advance on him slowly as he cut down the last guard. He ran to a cable and the princess met him there. Mara bolted for him and swung her weapon. Skywalker must have sensed her coming. He pushed the princess and dodged to one side. Leia Organa swung out over the pit and was grabbed by the wookie. Luke faced Mara, a determined look on his face. "Lando, Chewie, get them out of here."

Mara stared at him coldly, assessing him. He was calm and held his lightsaber with obvious skill. This was going to be a hard fight. The skiff with the other rebels sped away but they were not Mara Jade's concern. Luke Skywalker was her mission and she would complete it or die trying. With a flourish, she attacked with her vibropike, trying to cleave him in two. Skywalker dodged and spun, retaliating with his own attacks. Not sure how her weapon would stand up to the lightsaber, Mara avoided blocking or parrying, choosing instead to dodge the attacks. When Skywalker blocked an attack, it was clear that the weapon was resistant to lightsabers to at a small degree at least. After a flurry of blows and counter-attacks, Mara leapt back and placed the deck gun between them. Skywalker wasn't even breathing hard but Mara, wielding a weapon of substantial weight, was sweating and gasping for breath. Taking the opportunity granted by the laps in the fight, Skywalker asked, "Who are you? Who sent you?"

Mara didn't answer. She simply glared coldly at the man. He began to make his way around the deck gun as if to get at her. Mara circled with him, letting him get no closer or further away from her. After several moments, Skywalker was behind the gun and she stood before it. Mara took a brief moment to look down the dark barrel of the huge gun and that's when she realized she had made a serious mistake. Skywalker leapt onto the gunner's cradle and kicked the trigger. Mara leapt out of the way as a massive bolt of pure energy shot far too close to her head. Skywalker bolted over the back of the sail barge while Mara was forced to leap off one side of it - the side that did not have the pit on it. In a gout of fire and shrapnel, the barge exploded. Mara used the force to leap as far away as possible but even so, the explosion carried her high into the air and far out into the sands. She had no idea were Skywalker had gone but she knew that he had survived. Gritting her teeth, she stood and steadied herself, ignoring the ringing in her ears. Four skiffs had accompanied the great sail barge. One had been taken by the rebels and one destroyed in the explosion. As she watched, a dark figure took another and it sped back towards the palace. Mara exerted herself in the force and bolted onto the last remaining skiff, powering it up and following. The other skiff was only a tiny speck in the desert but it was enough to follow.

Mara wasn't surprised when Skywalker passed by the palace altogether and headed into the canyons. She followed him as closely as possible but lost sight of him a few times, only able to follow do to the dust trails that his skiff kicked up. It was some time before she found the skiff parked near an opening in the walls of the canyon. The whining roar of an Incom T-65 X-wing Starfighter firing up was heard and Mara gunned the engines. Just as she came into view, the X-wing was taking off. Thinking fast, she pulled a tiny, coin sized tracking device from the single hidden compartment on her revealing dancer's outfit and threw it, using the force to guide it onto the fuselage. Then it was gone, streaking towards the atmosphere. Mara watched for several minutes before cursing. Things just got even more difficult.

Two hours later, Mara Jade strode back aboard the Suwantek TL-1800 Freighter she had requisitioned for this mission. "R3, run the ship through pre-flight checks and get ready to take off. We need to leave as soon as possible."

A red, black and silver astromech droid tweatled in affirmative and rolled off to follow her master's command. Mara quickly changed from her dancers outfit into a black, synthleather jumpsuit and threw a black cloak over her shoulders. She hooked a lightsaber to her belt, attached a holstered DL-44 blaster pistol to it and also attached a hold out blaster and sleeve holster to her left forearm. That done, she went to the cockpit. All the systems were green for take off. Mara punched in the frequency of her tracking device and immediately received a signal. A cold smile crossed her full red lips. "We're taking off, R3. Set course for the Dagobah system."

 **Updated May 23, 2016**


	2. Chapter 2: Revelation on Dagobah

Mara Jade glared down at the green-gray planet before her. Of course Dagobah couldn't have been a tropical paradise planet or a green agricultural or ranching world. Kriff, she would have taken an oceanic world like Dac or Manaan but no. It had to be a swamp planet covered in grey clouds. She could already almost smell it from the cock pit of her TL-1800 freighter. The transmission from the tracking device she had placed on Luke Skywalker's Incom T-65 X-wing starfighter had cut out shortly after he had entered atmosphere. If that was any indication, Mara guessed that landing down there would be no mean feat for any decent pilot. Lucky for her, Mara Jade was an exceptional pilot with the force as her guide. Taking a deep breath, she reached out with the force, trying to find Skywalker's consciousness. She was very skilled at identifying and finding individuals' consciousness' from a decent distance away thanks to the training that Emperor Palpatine had given her. Even so, she could barely find the two points of bright light because it was shrouded in so much dark side energy, all emanating from a single area. Touching it made Mara's skin crawl. Focusing on the two points of light, she pointed her ship in that general direction, silently praying that there would be a suitable landing spot somewhere close by to them. As they entered atmosphere, her R3 astro droid tweatled. Mara muttered, "I know the sensors are being scrambled, thanks."

Visual scanning and sensors were all utterly useless. All Mara could see was dusky gray fog out her viewports and static on her sensors. The force was the only thing that guided her. She closed her eyes and reached out in all directions with her senses. The amount of life was astonishing. She sensed plants, fungi and animals in the millions below and, thank the force, a patch of bare, soggy dirt large enough to fit two of her ships. With a small smile and her eyes still closed, she started the landing cycle. Within minutes, she lowered the ship onto the ground. Mara didn't realize she had been holding her breath until she let out a relieved sigh. She had never done that before. Reaching out with her senses again, she plunged her awareness into the darkness, seeking the twin points of light. Mara hadn't had the opportunity to wonder why there were two points of light instead of just one. Standing from her pilot seat, she made her way to the boarding ramp and said, "Lock the ship down, R3. Be ready to fire her up as soon as I comm you. I'll be back in a few hours."

The droid whistled its reply and Mara Jade strode down the ramp. The planet was disgusting. Tatooine had been sandy, gritty and dry but this place was wet, rotting and humid. At the bottom of the ramp, Mara did a quick check of her weapons. Her lightsaber was secured to her hip as was a holstered DL-44 heavy blaster pistol and in the left sleeve of her black leather jumpsuit was a small but powerful hold out blaster. When she was satisfied, she quickly began to make her way towards the twin points of light in the midst of the darkness.

Several hours and at least a half a dozen kilometers away, Mara was beginning to get antsy. She was getting close to the point of origins in the nexus of dark side energy and she hated the feeling. It felt so cold and sickly. The only thing that kept her going was the knowledge that she was very close to her target. In fact, she was now less than a kilometer away. It was no time at all before she heard voices. One of them she recognized as Skywalker's. The other was strange. It was a gravely croak and talked backwards. "Calm you are, Luke and yet many things you have on your mind, is that not so?"

"Yes, Master Yoda. Something's happened. During everything that happened to save my friends I – well I guess it would be accurate to say that I met someone. I ran into a force sensitive who, though she didn't use the dark side of the force, was intent on killing me. She let my friends escape but came directly after me. I'm just trying to understand what it means, Master."

Mara was shocked. Did Skywalker just say 'YODA'? As in the last Grand Master of the Jedi Order? But Imperial records stated that he was dead decades ago. How was this even possible? She shook her head. It didn't matter. She had her mission and she would complete it. Slowly, she unclipped her lightsaber and stalked forward. Suddenly, the voices stopped and Mara froze. She reached out with all her senses but couldn't find them of a sudden. She resisted the urge to curse allowed and continued forward slowly. They had to be around here somewhere, they had been there less than a minute ago. She was about to ignite her lightsaber when she felt herself jerked into the air and pulled to the ground, her lightsaber leaping from her grasp at the same time. She lay there on a patch of mostly-dry moss looking at a tiny creature, less than a meter tall with a cane and beside him, a pair of black boots. Slowly, Mara looked upward and saw herself looking into the chiseled face and blue eyes of Luke Skywalker. In one hand was her lightsaber and in the other was his. "Away, put those, Luke. Harm us, she will not."

Mara sneered angrily and rolled before leaping to her feet. She tried to yank out her blaster pistol but it wasn't in her holster. The holdout blaster was gone as well. Both of them lay at the little green creatures feet. The little thing smiled at her and chuckled. "No need for weapons, I think. Why are you here, child?"

Skywalker was about to answer but Yoda silenced him with a wave of his tiny hand. Mara didn't answer. She glared at the two Jedi and knew that she had failed. Even if she could defeat Skywalker, there was no way in Correllian hell she could beat this little creature. The amount of rigidly controlled power that radiated from him was astronomical. She was surprised to sense that, though it was less controlled, the power radiating from Skywalker was just as great but it was less refined and seeped from him like an inefficient fuel system wasting tibanna gas. Skywalker spoke then. "She was the one on Tatooine who tried to kill me, Master. She ignored my friends and the guards and came straight after me."

Yoda nodded, considering this. After a moment, the little creature sighed. "Go to the hut and meditate more, you should, Luke. Speak to this would-be assassin alone, I will."

Skywalker was hesitant. Yoda chuckled again. "Worry about me, you should not. Her lightsaber, give to me. Hurt me, she will not."

Skywalker handed the little creature the lightsaber, though his small hand couldn't even fit around the cylinder. With one final glance at Mara Jade, Skywalker headed out into the swamps. Yoda hobbled over to a rock and sat down on it with a tired sigh. "A great Jedi he will be some day, like his father before him. Now tell me, young one, why do you hunt Luke Skywalker?"

Mara still refused to answer. She would die before giving any information away just as her master would expect her too. The little creature sighed again and said, "Loyal to your master you are, whoever they may be. No Jedi are you. Train assassins, Jedi do not. A Sith Lord, you are not, for there are two Sith Lords already and the dark side I do not sense in you. But a dark master you have. Over the millennia, force using servants the Sith have had – both trained in the dark side and not."

Mara tried to take a step but the little creature waved his hand. "Sit down, you should. Be here awhile, we will until the answers I have. Too much at stake there is for me to allow you to go free. Now, a powerful master you have. Neither adept, nor inquisitor nor dark knight trained you to get so close without us sensing you."

Mara felt herself forced over to a large stump and set down on it against her will. She didn't think Jedi were the kind of beings to do that. Yoda continued, "Search your mind, I could. See your thoughts, I could. But have a conversation with a lovely young lady, I would rather."

Mara was getting tired of this and the backwards talking of this little creature was beginning to make her head hurt. He continued slowly, "Clear it is to me, that the Emperor, your master must be or at least the one who commands you, he is. Only his agents to carry lightsabers are permitted. Hmmm..."

With a snap-hiss the weapon ignited. It's blade was maroon in color. The aged master examined it. "Not scarlet like the Sith Lords' or the inquisitors or the dark knights. A special mission, you had I think. A special purposed were you trained for. It matters not at this time. Know, you must, that kill Skywalker you cannot. Powerful is he, skilled is he."

Mara brushed back a strand of her golden-red hair and resisted the urge to tell the creature to shut his mouth and stop talking to her or to just let her go complete her mission. The little creature deactivated the lightsaber and used the force to give it to her. Mara was surprised. He also gave Mara her blasters. She clipped the lightsaber to her belt and put the hold out blaster back in its sleeve holster. She made as if to put her heavy blaster pistol in its holster but suddenly jerked up and fired from the hip at the little creature. Yoda simply lifted his hand and absorbed the rounds as if they were nothing but lights from a glow rod. Mara was stunned. She had heard rumors that Darth Vader was capable of such power but to see it was something else. She resignedly holstered her weapon. The little creature lowered his hand and grunted. He stood slowly and began to walk towards her. He hobbled, bent double with age, making him appear even smaller than he really was. When he was less than a meter away from Mara, he said, "Kneel down, young one. If hurt you, I wished to, hurt you I could."

Mara knelt and looked into his large eyes. Her mental shields were firmly in place so that the master could not see into her mind. After a few moments, he sighed a long, sad sigh. "Not the good man, you think he is, your Emperor. Evil, he is. A Lord of the Sith, he is. But believe my words, you will not. Show you, I fear I must."

Suddenly, Mara felt a powerful, bright consciousness surround her own. Even with her shields firmly raised, she could feel his presence. She wasn't sure how he was doing it but the aged Master was somehow getting feelings and images past her walls even though she doubted he could see what she was thinking. She saw images of peace and war. She saw people she assumed were Jedi leading white-armored clone troopers against Separatist battle droids on ten thousand worlds. Humans, twi'leks, zabraks and countless other sentient beings wielded the green and blue lightsabers of the Jedi order against the red lightsabers of Count Dooku's Dark Jedi acolytes and against the cybrog General Grievous. Almost like a puppet master above, the dark figure of Emperor Palpatine leered, cackling evilly. Suddenly, everything went dark. Ten thousand clone troopers in white armor with blue streaks marched into the Jedi Temple lead by a figure in dark robes. Anikan Skywalker was a famous Jedi Knight, a hero who was so well known for doing the impossible. Mara saw him now, cutting down fellow Jedi from the children to the aged librarians. The scenes changed. Mara saw Anikan Skywalker walk into darkness, a blue bladed lightsaber in his hand. For several moments, all she saw was the swirling darkness but then, she suddenly heard the sound that filled her very existence with fear and dread. It was a mechanical respirator that worked at a single, constant pace. With it was the sound of heavy duraplast boots, out of the darkness, wielding a red lightsaber now strode the figure that haunted every one of Mara Jade's nightmares - Darth Vader. Throughout everything, the Emperor stood before, laughing madly, looking for all the world like a massive puppet master. Mara felt tears in her eyes as she understood the small master's message. Flashes of images appeared in her mind's eye - worlds destroyed, species annihilated and a child, a little red-golden haired girl taken from her parents' burning home by a man in dark robes.

Mara snapped back to reality and was shocked to find herself weeping. The little green Jedi Master had tears in his eyes too. He hobbled forward and placed a small hand on one of hers. "See now, do you, young one? See now what your master is?"

Mara spoke for the first time. "Yes I see, Master but I - I can't believe it. I just - just can't. The Emperor helped raise me. He taught me everything I know about the force."

Yoda nodded. "A shock, this must be, to find out what your father-figure truly is. Meditate you should, young one. Over there, a cave there is. Surely, sense it you do. Hurt you it will not. I must go to Skywalker. My time with him is short."

He smiled and patted her kindly and Mara stood. Wiping her eyes self consciously and taking a deep breath, Mara went into the cave. The feeling of the dark side around her made her lightheaded. After a just a few minutes, she found a flat stone and sat down on it. Mara had never meditated before and wasn't quite sure how to proceed. She started with a deep breath and closing her eyes. She tried to quiet her thinking but her mind wouldn't relax. Impatience flooded her and she stood and began to pace when suddenly, two figures materialized from the mists. One was tall, in black armor and a black cloak while the other was covered from head to toe in black robes. Mara recognized them both with ease. The Emperor looked at her and said, "Well done, my child. You have killed Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance has been utterly crushed, but I am afraid that means your usefulness to has come to an end."

The Emperor then turned to Lord Vader and said, "My friend, kill her."

"With pleasure, my Master." With a snap-hiss, the Dark Lord ignited his crimson blade and approached her. Instinctively, Mara lit her own blade and readied herself for the fight of her life - most likely the last fight of her life. The first blow was hard enough to numb her small hands and she was able to slip out of the way of the next blow before it bisected her. It was a short duel. She couldn't avoid all his blows and she could block even fewer of them. Within minutes, she was on her knees, her arms numb. She glared up into the mask of Vader as he looked down on her. "At last you learn your place before you die, FORMER Emperor's Hand."

He brought the weapon down but just before it removed Mara's head from her shoulders, she found herself alone. She stood and whirled around. With a sigh of relief, she turned back towards the entrance to the cave. "My child, make your report."

Mara whirled again. Behind her stood her master. She bowed and stuttered. "M - my master. I - " She had to take a deep breath and calm herself. "I have tracked Skywalker to the swamp planet of Dagobah. When I arrived, I also found something unexpected - an ancient Jedi Master of great power. He calls himself Yoda."

The Emperor recoiled slightly and snarled, "Yoda? Impossible! The withered creature could not possibly still live." He looked at Mara and smiled again. "You have done well, my child. Finish your mission and then return to me."

Mara stood and said, "Wait, Master..." before she could cut herself off. The old man turned back to her. His face was not angry. If anything, there was a touch of concern in it. "What is it my child? Is there something you aren't telling me." Mara was silent, trying to find a way to reveal what she had learned. The Emperor took her opportunity to do so. He hissed, "You were discovered and the Jedi spoke to you, didn't they, my child?"

Mara suddenly felt resentment and feelings of betrayal rising in her. She tried to remain respectful but could not keep all of the bitterness out of her voice. "Yoda showed me things. He showed me the Clone Wars and - and he showed me..."

The Emperor's face grew hard. "He showed you too much, it would seem, Mara Jade. He showed you the foundation of the Empire - such a pity. It would appear you know too much to be of use to me, Mara Jade. This war will be over soon and when we are finally at peace, I'm afraid I cannot allow one with so much information to live."

Mara was shocked. Was this real or was it a vision - an effect of the dark side energy surrounding her. "Master, wait. Even after this war, how will you maintain control over the Empire? Who will seek out the corrupt?"

The Emperor shook his head. "That is no longer your concern, Mara Jade."

The feelings of hurt and betrayal welled up within her - to have the one man who had ever meant anything to her cast her aside like a spent powerpack. "I know who you are, Darth Sidious. I know WHAT you are. I know how you came to power. I know that you used me. I thought of you as a father and you USED me. After a lifetime of service, of being a slave to a megalomaniac, I am to be tossed aside like a broken tool."

The Emperor's face was hard and angry now. "How dare you assume you know me, Mara Jade. Run while you can, child. After I have killed Skywalker and ended this pitiful Rebel Alliance, you will be found and I will see to your execution personally."

Mara felt her own rage building. "No, you won't. I know more secrets than almost any other agent in your Empire. I will find the Rebel Alliance and tell them EVERYTHING! I will go to Skywalker and fight with him against you. I will not stop until I am dead or YOU are, Emperor Palpatine."

Mara reached into her mind and found the link that connected her to the Emperor. With a massive exertion of will and no small amount of pain, she destroyed the bond between her and the Emperor. The last thing she heard from him was a shriek of pain and rage. She found herself alone again in the cave. Again, she was weeping. She was alone. While she had never had any friends, she was never alone. The Emperor was always there, bonded to her. Now, however, she had nothing - no friends, no master, nothing. She was absolutely, utterly, alone. The pain and loneliness were almost too much. It took all her will power to stand again and stagger out of the cave. Mara remembered everything she had told the Emperor. She would go to Skywalker, to the Alliance and do everything in her power to help them. Now that she understood what her master was, she knew he had to be stopped, his rein brought to an end.

Outside the cave, Mara looked around. She had no idea what direction the tiny Jedi Master's hut was. All she could see around her were trees and fungus and mud and mist. Taking a deep breath, Mara Jade reached out with her senses, looking for the bright spots of light that would identify the Jedi. It was a matter of moments before she found one. Even with the shields firmly in place, Mara could tell it was Skywalker. Something about his consciousness was so honest, naive almost and so very earnest. She tried to get through to him but the shields kept her out. Instead of trying to batter her way through, she gently caressed his consciousness. It was strange, a little awkward to do something so intimate with someone she had been trying to kill. After several minutes, and when she was only a few dozen meters away from where Skywalker was, she felt his mental shields lower cautiously. Though he couldn't quite send direct messages, his mind was inquiring and Mara understood. She sent him a direct message. _Skywalker. My name is Mara Jade. We need to talk. Master Yoda showed me something. I promise I won't try to kill you._

 **Update May 23, 2016**


	3. Chapter 3: The Arrangement

Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade stared at each other inside the little hut that had once belonged to Jedi Master Yoda on the swamp planet of Dagobah. When Mara had gotten to the hut, she had been disappointed to hear that he had died. She would have liked to ask the ancient Jedi Master some questions. Now, however, it was just her and Luke Skywalker. The young Jedi sighed and rubbed his temples, the emotions of the past day playing havoc with his mind. "So, one more time, you're telling me that you are the personal assassin for Emperor Palpatine and that you want to defect to the Rebel Alliance. You say that you have a lot of information that you can give Alliance Command and a wealth of valuable skills that you will willingly utilize for the Alliance's cause. You say also that you were trained by the Emperor himself, by the headmaster of the Royal Guard Academy on Yinchorr and by numerous other highly skilled, highly decorated instructors in the Imperial Training Command."

Mara leaned back, trying to be patient about this. Crossing her long legs, she replied, "Yes, all accept the part about me being the Emperor's personal assassin. I _was_ his assassin. I'm not anymore."

Luke shook his head. "I'm sure you understand how hard all of this is to believe, Agent..."

"My name is Mara Jade and I'm not an agent. Call me anything you want, just not 'agent'."

Luke nodded. "Okay then, Jade. I can believe that you were trained to be an assassin. There is plenty of visible and physical evidence of that. You'll understand, however, if I find it hard to believe that you are trying to defect. It's too risky for me to just take you at your word and lead you straight back to Alliance Command."

Mara was doing her very best to maintain a calm, patient attitude even though she wanted desperately to share her knowledge with the rebels. "Skywalker, I know that three separate task forces are forming a sizable rebel fleet near Sullust. So does the Emperor and Imperial Intelligence, by the way. If I wanted to go there, I would have just gone."

"They wouldn't have accepted you, especially if you told them that you were an agent and assassin for the Emperor," said Luke a little dryly. Mara winced slightly and sighed. "Okay so leading with the whole 'personal assassin for the Emperor' bit wasn't the brightest move to convince you to help me defect. I get that. What do I need to do to convince you of my sincerity, Skywalker?"

Luke thought about it. The truth was, he did believe her. He believed every word she said but Alliance Command would not. If Luke was going to take her back, she would need to answer every and any question, be willing to give up any information about herself and the Empire. With a sigh and a serious look in his intense blue eyes, Luke said, "Look, Jade. For the record, I believe everything you're telling me but the Alliance won't. I can do my best to help convince them but I will only be able to do so much. My question for you is what are you willing to do to convince them?"

Mara thought about it. She was willing to give up every piece of information she had on herself and the Emperor and anything else. She just needed to get to the Alliance to tell them that. Standing, she unclipped her lighsaber and offered it to Luke. "I'm surrendering. Maybe they'll be more willing to listen if I show up unarmed."

She gave him her blasters as well and crossed her arms over her chest, feeling slightly naked without her weapons. "What else would help?"

Luke thought about it. "Well I think binders are a little unnecessary so how about this: You can use the magnetic clamps on your ship to haul mine back to the Alliance fleet and we can travel together."

Mara stiffened. She wasn't used to people being aboard her ship – or rather, the ships she used. They were all usually the Emperor's personal ships that he allowed her to use for missions. However, she could see the sense in what Skywalker was saying. Finally, she nodded. "That will work."

Luke handed Mara her weapons back. She looked at him and cocked a dark eyebrow. "You can give them back to me before we land. I know how awkward it feels to walk around without my weapon too."

Mara gave a small smile of gratitude and took her weapons back. Luke stood and said, "Well we should get ready to leave. There's really no more reason to stay here."

Mara nodded in agreement and they stepped out into the swamp. Skywalker's R2 unit rolled over the rough terrain, whistling at them. "It's alright, little buddy. Mara Jade is defecting. She wants to help us."

The droid was silent as it's single ocular scanner looked her up and down. With another whistle and a beep, he spun around and headed back to the X-wing fighter. Mara looked at Luke. "I don't think he likes me too much."

Luke chuckled. "In his defense, you were trying to kill me up until fairly recently. For not being a combat unit of any kind, he is a little over-protective sometimes."

Mara chuckled at that before saying, "My ship is about a klick that way. It's a TL-1800 Suwantek freighter. Oh and by the way..."

And she stopped and looked Luke in the eyes grimly. "I will be piloting."

Luke held his hands up as if to say 'don't shoot, I'm unarmed' and replied, "Of course. I would never demand that I fly someone else's ship while I am a passenger aboard it"

Mara was a little embarrassed but didn't show it. She nodded and said, "Good. Come on, it's this way."

When Luke saw the ship, he gave a low whistle. It was a beauty. He could tell that some heavy modifications had been done to it. The engines were not factory stock, nor were the weapons or the magnetic clamps below. They had all been replaced with superior, quite probably custom built substitutes. "That's a beautiful ship. How much of it is original?"

Mara was smiling proudly. "Not much. The weapons, the armor, the shield generator, the clamps, the nav system, the hyperdrive and the comms unit are all aftermarket. I modified some of them myself. I think the deck plating might be original though I was thinking of changing it."

Luke nodded, very impressed. The ramp lowered and an R3 astro droid rolled down to meet them, whistling and burbling noisily. Mara burst out laughing. "Easy, R3. The mission has changed. We're not trying to kill him anymore. We're going to help him out. Now I need you to get along with him and his R2 unit, alright? They won't mess with anything unless I let them so you don't need to worry about it."

Luke knelt down and looked at the red, black and silver droid. "Hello there. My names Luke."

A shock arm popped out and the astro droid whistled menacingly at him.

"Hey now! Put that away, R3. Luke's a friend." Said Mara sternly. The droid whistled hesitantly and retracted the appendage. Luke stood and gently patted the little droid's dome. Mara chuckled and said, "Are you this friendly to all the new droids you meet, Skywalker?"

Luke shrugged with a smile and she strode up the ramp into the ship and Skywalker followed close behind. The inside of the ship was pretty spacious for one person and a droid. The cargo space had been modified into crew quarters for six plus the captain's main cabin. There was an armory with some of the most high tech and sophisticated weaponry and armor components, a med bay with a full sized bactatank and a large area for hand to hand combat training. Mara followed Luke around, her smug smile growing at every compliment and praise that he gave. After he had thoroughly explored the ship, they made their way to the cockpit where Mara began working over the controls. Skywalker asked mildly, "Need me to do anything?"

Mara shook her head, her red-gold curls bouncing. "No. Sit on your hands Skywalker – no touching unless I tell you."

With a completely straight face, Luke literally sat on his hands. It was a minute or so before Mara looked over at him. She burst out laughing at the ridiculous look of earnestness on his face as he sat there on his hands like a child trying to prove how well he could behave. Luke laughed to and pulled his hands out and rested them on the arms of the co-pilot's chair. They took off and, using the force as her guide, Mara was able to position her ship over Luke's X-wing. Luke lowered the ramp and dropped out. He used the force to raise R2-D2 into the TL-1800 and leapt in after him. Mara engaged the clamps and they picked up the X-wing fighter smoothly, heading for space. "It's going to be a bit of a trip to Sullust. We might as well get comfortable." Said Mara. Luke nodded and headed back towards the large training area. He pulled his lightsaber from his belt and struck a fighting stance. Starting with slow grace, he moved through the drills that first Obi-Wan and then Yoda taught him. He had only gone through the drills a couple times when Mara appeared in the door way. "R3 will warn us when we are near Sullust. You're pretty good with that, Skywalker. Mind crossing blades? I haven't had a decent training duel in some time."

Luke was hesitant at first but reluctantly agreed. Mara pulled the black cloak off her shoulders and dropped the top half of her jump suit, knotting the sleeves around her waist. She wore a black tank top beneath. In a single smooth motion, she drew her own lightsaber and ignited the maroon blade. They readied themselves and Mara attacked. The first flurries of blows were just to test the waters, taking the opportunity to feel one another out. Mara did not block attacks but parried and redirected them or simply avoided them altogether. Her attacks were direct and her movements economical. Luke, by contrast, would use every block as its own attack. He used powerful attacks that utilized his strong arms and shoulders as well as the power generated by the motion of his hips. His style was quite similar to Darth Vader's though Skywalker was faster and could not generate as much raw power in his attacks.

Luke was amazed by Mara's skill and grace. She was like a dancer with a lightsaber. Several times, she would come very close to striking him before he would intercept her attack. Both of them were fairly evenly matched despite their differing styles of fighting. Luke disarmed Mara a few times or batted her weapon aside while Mara would come within less than an inch of giving Luke a deadly or debilitating wound before pulling away just in time. After an hour straight of intense lightsaber sparring, they both had to call for a break. Mara went to the galley and brought back two water bottles. Tossing one to Luke, she asked, "So what is your story, Skywalker? Where did you come from exactly?"

Luke chuckled and took a healthy drink of water before replying, "I figured that you knew everything about me, considering you were hunting me down."

Mara swallowed a mouthful of water before saying, "I know everything that the Empire knows about you. You came out of nowhere and destroyed the first Death Star at Yavin. You quickly became the hero of the Rebellion and the commander of Rogue Squadron, one of the biggest thorns in the Imperial Navy's side. I know that you have been training on and off for four years now to be a Jedi Knight. I know what happened to you at Bespin and, thanks to Master Yoda, I now know that Anikan Skywalker, who is now Darth Vader, is your father and that the Princess Leia Organa is your sister. But that's all I know. I don't know where you were raised or who you were raised by. I know about Skywalker the hero and the 'terrorist' and the Jedi but not about Skywalker the man."

Luke chuckled to hide his discomfort. "Skywalker the man isn't really that interesting. In fact, his humble beginnings are a great way to put the children of the galaxy to sleep rather quickly. What about you, Jade?"

Mara resisted the urge to snap at Skywalker to keep his nose out of her business. She had asked him first, after all. A little stiffly, she answered, "I was raised in the Imperial Palace on Coruscant. I was educated there, trained there and usually received my assignments there. I also lived there when I wasn't traveling the galaxy. I don't remember anything before being the Emperor's Hand. My earliest memories were either combat training with the royal guard detachment in the palace, learning force techniques or lightsaber combat from the Emperor, learning survival and evasion techniques with the storm commandos, conducting pilot training with the Emperor's personal shuttle or escort fighter pilots or learning the proper court etiquette and dancing from any of the numerous teachers of those arts."

Luke nodded, slightly abashed. He cleared his throat and said, "Well after a life like that, my story seems even less interesting."

Mara chuckled. "Come on, Skywalker. I told my life's story. Now you have to spill yours or else it won't be fair."

Luke reluctantly complied. "I was raised on Tatooine by my Aunt and Uncle until I was nineteen. Then they were killed by Imperial Stormtroopers while I was away from home and I traveled with Obi-wan Kenobi for a very short time until he died on the first Death Star. I joined with the Alliance at Yavin IV."

Mara's jaw dropped slightly. "Wait, you JOINED the Alliance at Yavin? Meaning that the battle that made you famous was also your very first? How did you learn to fly?"

Luke almost looked shy as he said, "I had an old Incom T-16 Skyhopper back home on Tatooine. The controls were remarkably similar to those of an X-wing though the Skyhopper's weren't anywhere near as extensive. They sent me through the simulator for a couple hours before the battle."

Mara was speechless. This man was like no one she had ever met before. She was finally able to sputter out, "But what is it that you and your Uncle and Aunt did? It must have been something for you to get so good at flying before you were even a part of the war - before you were even twenty years old."

Luke didn't answer. In truth, he was a little ashamed of his humble beginnings despite his apparent infamy in the eyes of the Empire. A slow smile spread over Mara Jade's face. She straightened from leaning against the bulkhead. "I forgot to mention one thing I am very good at, Skywalker: interrogation. I know several methods of getting information I need or want."

Luke looked up in alarm but seeing the twinkle in Jade's eyes, he relaxed slightly and grinned. "Is that so? Well I am a pretty resilient person. I can resist most mind probing techniques and devices and have quite a high tolerance for pain. I also don't drink alcohol very often so getting me drunk is out. Exactly how do you think you can convince me to give you this 'vital information'?"

Mara laughed. "All I want to know is what you did before you became the vaunted Rebel hero. Is that really such a terrible bit of information? Is it something you're embarrassed about? Why won't you tell me, Skywalker?"

In truth, Luke would have eventually told her but he wanted them to get more comfortable with each other before they reached the fleet. That way it would be easier to convince Alliance Command that Mara was trustworthy. A game like this could only help - unless she actually started to torture him. Mara stalked toward him, a playful yet determined gleam in her emerald green eyes. "Come on, Skywalker. Don't make me..."

Luke straightened, a cocky grin on his face. "Do your worst, Jade. I'll never tell – unless you make me."

Mara clipped her lightsaber to her belt. "How to, how to." She said as if in indecision. "I could break a few bones but I doubt that pain would do much for someone who lost their hand to a lightsaber. I would deprive you of food but the trip to the Alliance fleet isn't going to be that long. Hmmm..." She began to circle him, eyeing him like a puzzle she wanted to solve. "What is Luke Skywalker's weakness?"

Luke was doing his damnedest to keep a straight face as Mara circled him. She still ware her jump suit with the top half tied around her waist by the sleeves and tapped a bottle of water against her chin thoughtfully. Luke couldn't help it. He chuckled and said, "Well one thing I have learned is that it is best to restrain someone you want to interrogate."

Mara suddenly stepped right up to him and looked him in the eyes, whispering, "I don't need to restrain you, Skywalker. When you tell me, and you will, you'll do it willingly because you want to."

Their noses were just centimeters apart and Luke had to resist the urge to lean or step back . A beautiful woman being in his personal space was something he wasn't used to. Beautiful? Did he really just think that? But she was, with her red-golden hair, her brilliant green eyes, her dancers figure and, apparently, a playful attitude he never would have expected. Even now, the smirk on her face was widening to something akin to an evil smile. "I can read your mind, Skywalker. Did you know that?"

Luke frowned and checked the barriers around his mind. They were still firmly in place. "If you can read my mind, Jade, why don't you already know the answers to the questions you are asking?"

Mara chuckled. "I can't delve into a mind like a mine and find the thoughts deep inside. I can, however, pluck the thoughts off the surface – kind of like bobbing for fruit in a basin actually."

Luke tried to stifle his embarrassment. Mara simply played on it. "Aren't you going to ask me what I think you were thinking?"

Luke shook his head. "I was thinking what any man would think in this situation."

"Please don't let the scary woman hurt me?" Mara teased. She hadn't moved yet and neither had he.

Luke laughed and took a step back as casually as he could. "No. That wasn't it, Jade."

Mara just stepped right back into his space, managing to get even closer this time. Instinctively, Luke took another step back and Mara just followed. Finally, Luke stopped. They were almost nose to nose now and she was still smirking at him. A bead of sweat rolled down her face to her upper lip and her tongue slipped out of her mouth to sweep it away. Luke became aware of a twisting in his gut. "Well?" Mara whispered. Luke blinked. "Well what, Jade?"

"You had something you wanted to tell me, right?" Luke almost fell for it. He almost told her but then he remembered. With his own smirk, he said, "Did I? Hmmm... ah yes I did. What I wanted to tell you was 'nice try, you almost had me'."

Mara sighed, a slightly melodramatic sound and stepped away from him. Luke suddenly felt a sense of loss as though he had something and it had been taken away from him. What was that all about? Mara turned back to him and began to stretch out. Luke felt himself blushing as she dropped to a split with a sigh and leaned forward. The tank top she wore revealed every bit as much as it covered at that angle. Quickly, he turned away. Mara chuckled huskily and said, "Something bothering you, Skywalker?"

Luke shook his head, chuckling at his own embarrassment. Mara spoke behind him. "Well whatever you did, your Uncle and Aunt raised you to be a good old-fashioned gentleman. You said you were raised on Tatooine right?"

Luke nodded, still trying to pull his mind out of the gutter it had slipped into. "Yup. I was." He said. Mara _hmmm'd_ and was quiet. Luke peaked over his shoulder just in time to see that she was standing again before she bent down, grabbed her ankles and rested her head on her knees while her legs were still straight. "Well there isn't much that can be done there. Were you a scavenger?"

She was standing with her back to him and, given the view, he forced himself to turn back around and pretend to examine something on the wall as he answered, "Nope. Well – sometimes if we found a good wreck out in the dunes, we would take parts from it if we couldn't identify who's it was."

"Okay. Were you a family of smugglers? That would explain your piloting skills."

"No. No such thing."

"Hmmm... were you land speeder or air speeder mechanics?"

"Only our own when necessary."

"I see. Well you had at least one speeder. You had a Skyhopper. You usually fixed your own vehicles. Were you merchants of some kind?"

"Nope. Not even warm by the way."

Mara chuckled. Luke took a deep breath and peaked again over his shoulder before turning right back around and letting out a very quiet groan. She was stretching her arms out behind her now, gripping one wrist in the other and lifting her arms as high as she could. The motioned pressed her chest towards him. Suddenly, she stopped and shook out her arms and hands before saying, "You know, after a sparring match like that, you should really stretch, Skywalker. Here, let me help you."

Luke turned around and back-peddled holding his hands up. "That won't be necessary, thanks. I can stretch out on my own."

"You sure? I was always taught that you get a more thorough stretch when you do it with a partner."

Luke bent down himself and stretched his hamstrings. He was flexible enough to grab his ankles and pull gently for a good stretch. "I heard that too but this should be fine."

Mara crossed her arms again. Whatever Skywalker was before he was a Rebel hero, he seemed to be embarrassed by it – which of course only made her want to find out even more. "Were you droid mechanics?"

Luke straightened with a sigh. He was pondering telling her just so she would stop asking, but what fun would that be? "Nope though we used droids in our daily work. In fact that's how I got R2-D2. My Uncle and I bought him off a bunch of Jawas.

Mara threw her hands up in mock exasperation. "Well there goes my next guess. I was going to ask if you and your uncle and aunt _were_ Jawas."

Luke chuckled, "Careful, Jade. Among moisture farmers, being called a Jawa can be a pretty serious insult."

He clamped his mouth shut in horror at what he had just done as a smile of triumph and a peel of laughter came from Mara Jade. "YES! Told you I would get it out of you sooner or later. I didn't even have to pull nails or force-feed you fire-whiskey."

Then, her jaw suddenly dropped at the realization of what he had just told her. He was a _moisture farmer?_

She simply stared at him, open mouthed. Luke lowered his head with a sigh and braced himself for all the jokes in the galaxy. He had faced them from Han and the Rogues and so many others so this would be no different. To his surprised, she sputtered for several seconds before managing to say, "But you destroyed the first Death Star! You brought down Moff Kohl Seerdon and the 128th TIE Intercepter Squadron! You, TWICE, rescued rebel prisoners from Kessel! And you, YOU..."

She shook her head in disbelief. "You are a Tatooine FARM BOY!"

And there it was. Luke groaned. "I'm going to go use the crew's refresher."

Mara was still shaking her head. "The force really must be strong with you, Skywalker. Not only that, but you must have something a little extra in your make up to have survived as long as you have."

Luke blushed, embarrassed as what she said. He turned away and went to the 'fresher. Inside was also a clothes washing unit. Luke stripped down and tossed his clothes in the washer unit before turning on the shower. It felt good to shower after the muck of Dagobah and the sweat from the lightsaber sparring session. With a grateful sigh, Luke allowed the water to run over his body for a minute or so before quickly scrubbing himself off and shutting the shower down. He didn't want to be that kind of guest who took all the hot water out of the ship's reservoirs. He wrapped a rough towel around his waist and leaned against the wall waiting for his clothes to dry. "Probably would have been a good idea to get a change of clothes out of my fighter's hold before took off." He muttered to himself. Suddenly, he felt a presence brush his mind. At first, Luke slammed his shields in place but, after a couple seconds of gentle caresses, he let them down. Mara spoke to him with her telepathic ability. _There are a couple sets of fatigues in the crew quarters. I think some of them should fit you reasonably well._

Luke nodded and thought, _what was this transport used for? I never noticed any Imperial markings. In fact, it looks like it could be a diplomat's personal transport._

Mara's thoughts reached him as he exited the refresher, holding the towel securely around his waist. _This was a ship designed for me at the order of the Emperor himself. There were a couple times I would bring specialized units on certain missions. When I requisitioned it the last time, it looked like it had been made ready to infiltrate a rebel cell – hence the fatigues._

Luke went into the first set of quarters. To his surprise her found several sets of Alliance gear – the uniforms of rebel guards, armored suites used by their marines, fatigues used in jungles and forests and just plain tan fatigues. He pulled one of the latter of and examined it. Quickly, he dressed himself and was pleased to find that the clothes, while a little tight across the chest and in the arms, were long enough and fit just fine otherwise. Still whistling, Luke made his way to the cockpit where Mara sat, dressed in a red shirt and pants with a blue jacket over it. Her red-gold hair was tightly braided. "Feel better, Farmboy?" She asked with a wicked little grin. Luke sighed and resigned himself to her teasing with good grace. "Much, thank you, Jade. I hope it's not too much to ask if there is anything to eat. My last meal was on Dagobah and when Yoda cooked, you ate as little as you possibly could."

Jade chuckled. "There are ration bars and such in the galley. I'm not sure about actually food though. I'm really don't cook much so I didn't take the time to inventory the perishable supplies."

Luke stood up again and headed back to the galley. Mara's voice in his head called after him. _Bring me back a ration bar too, would you, Farmboy?_ Luke could feel the glee in her thoughts. She was enjoying this entirely too much. _Depends. If there is any real food, I might throw an actual meal together._

 _You can cook? Where did you learn to do that?_

 _On a moisture farm, of course. What, they didn't include culinary skills in your assassin training?_

Luke felt her amusement in his mind. The galley was very well stocked with anything and everything he could want. The more mischievous part of his mind wanted Luke to make some his Aunt's stew. It smelled horrible and was most definitely an acquired taste. However, he would rather that Mara had a good impression of his cooking. He pulled a sealed container of ground nerf meat from the refrigeration unit and put it into a dish with different vegetables and spices, arranging it so that all the flavors would mix most thoroughly and popped it into the oven. He also sliced up some different fruits and arranged them on a dish before pulling a container of sweet cream and whipping it into fluff. Relishing such a normal activity of cooking, Luke hummed happily to himself as he prepped the meal. _Hey, Farmboy! You really need to learn to contain your thoughts. All that cheerfulness is beginning to chafe my mind._ Luke could sense the good-natured emotions behind Mara's jibes and sent her an image of him belting out an obnoxiously cheerful children's song. _Don't make me come back there, Skywalker. You wouldn't like the result._

 _All empty threats, Jade. You don't scare me. Well, not anymore at any rate._

 _Oh, now you're gonna get it._

Luke chuckled and kept humming to himself as he cooked, thinking that the force would alert him when Mara got close. He was shocked when an arm wrapped around his neck and he felt warm breath on his left ear. "Scared of me now, Skywalker?" She whispered smugly. She pulled him back and just slightly off balance and Luke couldn't help but go, "Woah!" As he thought he was about to fall. He was completely at her mercy. Even so, he chuckled and immediately felt her tense ever so slightly. "I guess that's a no. What ever should I do with you, Skywalker?"

"Well that was a neat trick. I never even felt you coming. Any chance I can convince you to teach me how to do that?"

Mara didn't answer for a moment and when she did, her voice was a little more serious. "I'm not really a teacher, Skywalker. Let's just see how this whole thing with the Alliance goes before we start sharing trade secrets, okay?"

Luke nodded. "Of course. Can you let me up now? I need to check on the food."

The playfulness was all back in Mara's voice as she said, "Hold on. You still don't sound very scared, Farmboy. That needs to change before I let you go."

Luke couldn't help it. He chuckled again. "And how exactly are you going to scare me, Jade?"

"I dunno. I seemed to be scarring you earlier while I was interrogating you. Why was that so scary, Luke?"

Mara rested her forehead against the side of his neck and breathed, allowing the tiniest sigh to escape. Luke's heart suddenly began to pound as if he had just finished a heavy work out. The feeling of her breath against the side of his neck while her right arm held them so close together was beginning to play hell with Luke's libido. Taking a couple deep breaths, Luke managed to say with a perfectly steady voice, "Now you're just threatening me with a good time, Jade."

It didn't quite have the desired effect. Jade froze and Luke could sense her shock. She must really think of him as an innocent, naïve little farm boy. With a quick move, Luke pulled himself forward, slipped his hands between her arm and his neck and managed to slip her arm over his head before ducking behind her, still holding onto her arm and placing her against the refrigerator unit with her arm locked behind her. "Impressive. You've had some training in hand to hand combat then."

Luke didn't relax his hold just yet but replied, "I trained with Alliance Special Forces whenever I had the chance. Unfortunately, the chances have been rather few and far between recently. They teach Teras Kasi and Ichanni."

Mara nodded and, with the agility of a feline, was able to free herself from the lock. Spinning around to face Luke, Mara had an excited gleam in her eye and her hands up in a combat stance. Luke had stepped back against the hot oven and held his hands placating. "Woah now! Is the galley really the best place for a sparring match, Jade?"

Mara remembered where they were and dropped her hands. Luke chuckled and pulled the food out of the oven. He set everything out: the fruit, the nerf and vegetable casserole, the bowl of whipped sweat cream and also a loaf of bread that had been well sealed and he had slipped into the oven to warm before Mara's sneak attack. "Well, well, Skywalker – I might just forget taking you back to the Alliance and keep you all to myself. This all looks fantastic."

Luke handed her a plate, utensils and a glass of water before piling the food on for her. "Stars, Skywalker! Do I look like I eat that much?"

He laughed at the look of false shock on her face. "No you do not." She narrowed her eyes and pointed her fork accusingly at him. "Wait a minute, you've never even seen me eat. How would you know how much is a lot if you have nothing to compare it to?"

Luke nearly choked on his food as he struggled not to laugh. When he could clear his throat, he answered, "I haven't a clue, Jade. I just felt like the right answer was no in that case. What did you expect me to say? 'Why yes Jade. In fact, you look like you could eat two or three plates full of food like that.'"

Jade swatted at him playfully. They ate in a companionable silence for several minutes. Luke wasn't surprised when Mara pushed her plate away and said, "There is no way I can eat that much, Skywalker."

Luke shrugged and tipped the remainder of the contents of her plate onto his, murmuring around a mouth full, "No sense in it going to waste, right?"

Mara's eyes lit and she could barely restrain a huge grin as she said, "Wow, Skywalker. With manners like that, people are going to think you were raised on a farm."

She couldn't hold it in anymore, laughing long and hard at her own joke. Luke laughed too, even if it was at his expense. They cleaned the dishes, needling each other cheerfully as they did before heading back up to the cockpit. R2 and R3 were studiously ignoring one another – the former sitting in the corner silently while the latter was doing her regular duties. Mara sighed and said, "It's still seven hours before we reach Sullust, Skywalker. We should probably get some rest. The droids will wake us before we reach our destination."

Luke was stifling a yawn even as she suggested it. It was a good idea. He headed back to the crew quarters where he had found the fatigues and shrugged them off. The clothes washing unit had finished washing and drying his black tunic and pants and he laid them out for after he woke. He plopped down on the bunk and sighed contentedly. Just before he drifted off, he felt Mara's thoughts brush against his mind. _Sleep well, Farmboy._

He smiled sleepily. _You too, Jade._

He felt a tiny feeling of nervousness just before she retreated from his mind and woke up just enough to send reassurance over their mental communication. _Hey, don't worry about it. Considering your skills and what you know, Alliance Command will practically be salivating when they meet you and if they aren't, I'll convince them. Being the only remaining Jedi and the 'hero' who blew up the Death Star does come with its perks._

Luke felt her amusement brush against him, mingled with gratitude. He smiled and closed his eyes again, allowing himself to drift into a restful sleep.

 **Updated May 23, 2015**


	4. Chapter 4: The Interviews

Mara Jade woke from her all-too short nap to the sound of her Astromech droid R3-L9 beeping an alarm to her. With a low groan, she woke up and stretched. Of the seven hours of potential sleep she could have gotten, she only managed about two and a half hours. Her anxiety over the unknown reception she would receive at the rebel fleet had not allowed her to sleep, despite Skywalker's reassurance. It wasn't that she didn't believe or trust him. Even in the short time they had known each other, she had concluded that she could trust him. Skywalker was just very naïve and Mara was worried that translated into his expectation of her reception by rebel high command. He was just so young and was only a commander in their chain of command. She chuckled. Mara herself was even younger by at least two years.

Would the fact that he was a Jedi and hero make a difference? With a sigh, she stood and dressed herself a pair brown leather cargo pants, a short cropped gray shirt and a blue leather jacket with gold striping down the outside of the sleeves. She threw her red-gold curls up into a ponytail. Suddenly, she felt Skywalker's consciousness touch hers. It felt a little concerned and curious about her thoughts. His gentle mental voice whispered, _Is everything okay, Mara? Are you still worried about Alliance Command?_

She sent back to him, _A little, Farmboy. I didn't sleep great either. I'll be okay._

Luke replied, _we'll make them see, Mara. If men like Crix Madine can defect and become an integral part of the Alliance, so can you._

Mara sent him her gratitude over their link before she eased her mental shields back up. She strapped on her regular weapons, though she chose a Wester-34 Blaster Pistol instead of the DL-44, deciding that she would prefer a more precise, accurate weapon. Her holdout blaster she slipped into her sleeve holster and her lightsaber she clipped on her belt. All that done, she headed to the cockpit. In less than ten minutes, they would be dropping out of hyperspace. The door to the cockpit hissed open and Skywalker stepped in, once again dressed in his black tunic and pants. Mara glanced up at him and asked, "You sleep okay, Skywalker?"

Luke nodded. "I slept alright. Those beds are surprisingly comfortable. Nothing but the best for the Emperor's personal strike force, huh?"

Mara nodded, "When it was first commissioned, the Emperor would have it used by one of his Shadowguards. They were elite royal guards who were discovered to be force sensitive. They would be sent out with Shadow Stormtroopers or Imperial Security Bureau commandos to hunt down Jedi or even renegade force adepts. Since then, I have pretty much made it my own. The Emperor even reserved it for me and allowed me to modify it how I chose though he would loan it out to some Inquisitor or other dark sider just to remind me that it was still his."

She gave a slightly malicious smile and said, "Now it looks like it's actually truly mine; never thought that that would happen."

Luke chuckled. They were silent for a few minutes until an alarm went off. Mara took a deep breath and said, "We're here. Coming out of hyperspace in three, two..."

The blue tunnel turned to brilliant white lines and then to shining stars with a great fleet in the foreground. Mara had known what the strength of the gathering forces had been but to see it up close filled her with awe. Over a hundred ships were gathered. Mon Calamari Cruisers and Frigates, Correllian Corvettes and Gunships, Rendilli Star Drives Assault Frigates and Nebulan-B Frigates gathered into a large formation with fighter patrols sweeping the perimeter. One of those patrols turned to intercept them and Mara stiffened ever so slightly. Luke reached across and gave her hand a gentle squeeze with his own. "It will be okay, Mara. I know this is your ship but I think it would be best if I took us in."

Mara was about to vehemently object but Luke cut her off. "I know how uncomfortable it can be but they may think you have me prisoner and are using me to get to another target if you are piloting."

With a disgruntled sigh, Mara switched seats with Luke. He was pleasantly surprised to find that the controls were very easy to use. Luke had flown a ship of this kind before and they tended to have sluggish controls but this one operated perfectly. The comms system crackled as they were hailed by the patrolling fighters. "Unidentified freighter, this is Lieutenant Keyan Farlander of Rebel Alliance Starfighter Command. Please state your identification and a clearance code or you WILL be fired upon."

Luke chuckled and Mara gave him a rather surprised look. "Keyan's a hell of a pilot but he would never just shoot at us unless he was sure he had too."

Using the comms transmitter, he replied to the rebel pilot, "Lieutenant Farlander, this is Commander Skywalker with an Imperial defector. That's why my X-wing is clamped to the bottom of the ship. Clearance code is Tallahs Haroon Ten dash Eleven Thirty-eight."

After a short moment, the fighter pilot replied, "Good to hear from you, Commander. I don't know how you get away with running off on your own so often and whatever the reason, Command doesn't feel the need to pass it on."

Luke chuckled and replied, "Someday I'll tell you about it, Keyan. Can you alert _Home One_ that we will be arriving shortly and that my X-wing is going to need to be towed into place? We're going to have to just drop it on the deck with these clamps."

Lieutenant Farlander sent back an affirmative and Luke brought the Suwantek into the main hanger of a MC90 Star Cruiser several minutes later. Mara tried to maintain an aura of calm be she was so anxious that she couldn't concentrate on keeping her breathing steady, her heart from pounding and her fingers or feet from nervously drumming all at once, not to mention she was apparently broadcasting her thoughts because Luke looked a little exasperated as he said, "Stars, Jade! You're going to start making me nervous if you keep doing that. What's eating at you?"

Mara sighed and slumped into her chair. Finally, just as they set the X-wing down, off to the side in the main hanger, she said, "I'm not just nervous about trying to convince Rebel High Command. It's just hitting me that I am literally working to destroy so much of what I fought to protect – that I'm fighting against an Empire that I had served with such loyalty and that many Imperial citizens may die in the process. I'm struggling with feelings of guilt and betrayal against them."

Luke nodded. It was something that had bothered him since he blew the first Death Star, not to mention the dozens of battles with Rogue Squadron where he either had personally destroyed factories, facilities and bases or failed to protect civilians from the Empire's wrath. Reaching across again, he patted her arm and said, "Hey. How would all the people in the galaxy be better off: with a New Republic based off the values and morals of the old one before Palpatine or with and Empire where Palpatine is the soul and ultimate authority?"

Mara knew the answer and sighed. "I know, I know. That doesn't make it any easier though, you know."

"I know, Mara. Sometimes I doubt even absolute victory will convince me that all the death and destruction was worth it;" said Skywalker with a sigh.

Mara was surprised at that. She looked hard at Luke as he expertly set the freighter down. She didn't only see the great hero and Jedi in training now. She saw a man with his own fears and doubts and hurts. To Mara's surprise, it made her want to know that man and care less about the Jedi and the hero.

Looking out the transparasteel viewport of the cockpit, Mara and Luke noticed a group of six or seven uniformed individuals coming towards the ship. After powering everything down and collecting the droids, they headed to the ramp. Luke turned to face Mara, a kindly smile on his face but a serious look in his eyes. "Take a deep breath and hand over your weapons when you're ready."

Mara took a deep breath and handed her belt and sleeve holster to Luke. Luke threw them over one shoulder and asked, "Ready?"

Mara nodded and the ramp lowered. By the time they had reached the bottom of the ramp, the seven uniformed figures were less then twelve meters away. Six of them were armed with heavy blaster rifles and the seventh was a figure Mara recognized immediately: Airen Cracken, General of Alliance Intelligence. Aside from this welcome party, there were dozens of technicians, fighter and shuttle pilots and security personnel who wanted to see the new ship and the defector that Commander Skywalker had brought back. Seven fighter pilots separated from a group of mixed pilots and techs, all of them with the top halves of their orange, red and green flight suits tied around their wastes and grease stains on the grey undershirts beneath.

"Hey Luke. Where the Correllian hells have you been? We've been waiting for you. You know that Princess Leia insisted that we wait to start the briefing till she heard that you were okay? By the time she heard, command decided waiting a few hours till you got here. Who's your new friend, boss?"

Luke turned to his old friend, Wedge Antilles and smiled. "A lot's happened, Wedge. Still doing maintenance on your own fighter, huh? This is Mara Jade. She's defecting from the Empire. I'll catch up to you boys later. I think General Cracken wants to have a word with us."

The grim looking man with his six guards, all Alliance Special Forces Marines, surrounded Luke and Mara. Cracken proffered his hand to Skywalker. "Commander, it's good to have you back. Why command keeps letting you disappear whenever you say 'Jedi stuff' I don't know but I'm glad your back. This is the defector?"

Luke shook the hand and replied, "Yes sir. This is Mara Jade. I'll let her tell you about herself, though. Is there a chance I can have the ship locked down. I already had it swept for spyware and other nefarious gadgets and it's clean."

Mara forced her expression to remain neutral but she sent her thoughts to Luke. _You swept my ship? When did you have time for that?_

While Cracken was telling Luke that he would make sure no one disturbed the ship and that Luke could observe Mara's interrogation, Luke sent his answer through their link. _As soon as R2 went aboard, I had him stand in a corner and scan the whole ship. I may be a Farmboy and a little naïve but I'm_ _not stupid_.

Mara suppressed a smile. Cracken turned to her and asked, "Are those your weapons Skywalker is carrying, Miss Jade?"

Mara replied respectfully, "Yes sir. I surrendered them and my ship to him with the intent of defecting. I would like to aid the Rebel Alliance in any way that I can. My R3 unit is at your disposal. Feel free to check her for spyware. You will find some but it is all dormant and non-functioning. In my belt, I have a number of data cylinders that will have very important information considering that you are planning on attacking the new Death Star."

Cracken flinched and stared levelly at Mara. "Right this way, Miss Jade. We have quite a bit to discuss. Lance Corporal, take the droid to the intel workshop. Skywalker, you can observe from inside the conference room. The weapons stay outside, though."

Luke nodded. When they reached the interrogation room, Luke locked up Mara's belt and forearm holster in the lockers outside but pulled some code cylinders from her belt. Cracken motion Mara into the room. "One moment please, Miss Jade."

Cracken turned to Luke and said, "What do you know about her, Skywalker?"

Luke stood at parade rest and replied, "Most of it, she really should tell you herself and I shouldn't disclose it. She is strong with the force. Other than that, it's up to her to tell. She told me she will disclose whatever she has to in order to be accepted and I believe her, General."

Cracken cocked an eyebrow and the corners of his mouth curved upward ever so slightly. "The fact that she is a very attractive woman has nothing to do with it, does it, Commander?"

Luke blushed slightly and smiled, "She is sir, but no. I know you probably don't want to hear this, but it's a Jedi thing."

Cracken scowled. That's exactly what command would tell him every time Skywalker ran off on random missions that no one, not even Alliance Intelligence, knew about. "Fine, Commander. Come on. Let's start working on your prisoner."

Mara sat a chair, her legs and arms crossed. She knew what was going on. Cracken was trying to establish a good cop – bad cop routine. Luke wouldn't go along with it – probably couldn't play along with it. Mara smiled at the idea of Luke interrogating anyone. Farmboy probably couldn't convince a child to share a bag of candy. The door opened and in strode Cracken and Skywalker. Cracken sat down but Luke just stood in the back corner. "Please state your name and position in the Imperial hierarchy for the record."

Mara cleared her throat, which had gotten very dry. "My name is Mara Jade and my official position was the Emperor's Hand."

Cracken didn't betray any outward sign of anxiety but his heart rate and core temperature rose. "The Emperor's Hand – fascinating; I haven't heard much about you, just rumors and hearsay. Tell me, what was your mission as the Emperor's Hand?"

"I was tasked with investigating and eliminating corrupt government and military officials. Moffs, Admirals, Generals and Governors – all of them were under my microscope and whenever any of them showed signs of corruption, I made a thorough investigation. If they were guilty, I either reported them or simply took them out. As the war progressed, I was sent to hunt down defectors too. My last mission was to hunt down and kill Commander Luke Skywalker. As you can see, I not only failed but decided that I had better options than killing him. This was my only failed mission and I haven't regretted it yet."

General Cracken nodded with a kind smile. "Well we're glad you had a change of heart. Skywalker is irreplaceable as a pilot, a Jedi, an officer or a soldier. Can you give me the details of your training, Agent Jade?"

Mara leaned forward and crossed her forearms on the table. "I certainly can and will but please don't call me agent. I am not an agent anymore. The Emperor himself trained me in the ways of the force and in lightsaber combat. I learned all the niceties and etiquette of court from those who taught the children of nobles and high ranking officials. My combat training was handled by the Royal Guard Academy's head master; he taught me everything I know with the exception of the lightsaber. I was trained by the best and most highly decorated instructors in piloting, survival techniques and interrogation. If I wanted to know it, I learned it to complete my mission."

General Cracken nodded. His heart beat had only risen as she had continued. "You must be a formidable woman then, Mara Jade. The Alliance would be fortunate to have you. I just can't seem to figure out what would make you leave a position at the Emperor's knee where you got everything you wanted and needed to join a rebellion that has looked doomed for failure since day one. Can you explain that to me?"

Mara took a deep breath and said, "After Skywalker escaped me on Tatooine, I tracked him to another planet. On that planet, I found him in the company of a Jedi Master named Yoda, who has since passed away. Before Master Yoda died, he opened my eyes. He educated me on what the Emperor truly is – a corrupting, evil, force forsaken son of a kath hound who slaughters billions, kidnaps and brainwashes children and has manipulated the entire galaxy since well before the Clone Wars!"

Cracken's eyebrows rose. Mara's voice had gone from entirely under control to fierce and angry throughout her narrative. She was glaring as Cracken and her small hands were in tight fists. Luke looked just as relaxed as he had before but he sent her soothing thoughts through their mental link. _Easy, Mara. If you scare the man, he probably won't put in a good word for you. Take a deep breath._

Mara did just that and sent a rather amused reply back to Luke. _Get out of my head, Skywalker._

 _Aww… you don't mean that._ A small smile was at the corner of his mouth and he gave her a wink. General Cracken had stood up and said something into a comlink and then sat back down. "Well you sure do give a compelling argument, Mara Jade, but considering you have been playing to my responses this entire time, it's hard to read your sincerity."

Mara smiled at him. "Old habits die hard, don't they general? Even if I have geared my responses towards a more favorable response, they have been the absolute truth. Luke…" turned to him. "…did you get the code cylinders from my belt before you stowed it?"

Luke pulled six code cylinders out his own belt and laid them on the table and placed a datapad next to it. Mara explained, "Those contain everything that is most relevant to you at this point in time and are current up to about twelve hours ago. The first has the location of every Imperial Fleet from here to the unknown regions. This second one has the technical schematics of the new Death Star – where it was at twelve hours ago and what it will be as a finished station. The third has the locations of most of the Imperial Army units from the regular to the highly classified –"

Cracken interrupted her. "Wait a moment, Jade. Why would you have all this information just stashed on your ship? What purpose would an Emperor's Hand have for it?"

Mara gave a small, one shouldered shrug, "I hunted down the corrupt. If I needed to infiltrate an Imperial Garrison on some remote moon in Wild Space, I had to be able to study up on the specs of the base. Besides, quite a few Admirals and Generals have either defected or gone rogue. After the first couple, Palpatine wanted me to keep an eye on all of them so I had the access."

Cracken nodded and scooped up the cylinders. "Well, Jade, I am going to send these to our analysts and I'll be back soon. Do you need anything?"

Mara was trying her best to retain patience but she was getting frustrated. "I'm a little hungry and something to drink wouldn't be bad either."

Cracken nodded. Luke said, "Can I have a word with you, General?"

Mara looked at the farm boy's eyes. He was just as irritated as she was getting but he could sure hide it. Mara smiled slightly. Skywalker would probably make one hell of an intel agent after all.

"General, I don't understand. Between Jade's R3 unit and those cylinders, we have a wealth of information. What else do you need from her to trust that she is sincere?"

General Cracken shook his head. "I don't know, Skywalker. The truth is I have heard a little about the Emperor's Hand and what she says doesn't completely line up. They all answer to Palpatine yes and they are supposedly force users yes but what little intelligence we have on them, her duties don't line up - intel gathering, assassination and infiltration were but not to eliminate 'corrupt' Imperials. Do you think you can get to her? You already have a rapport, Skywalker and maybe your force will come in handy. Leia mentioned that you contacted her at Cloud City. Do you think you could do that?"

Luke shuffled uncomfortably. "Sir I can ask if she's willing by I won't force her. That's what the Emperor does and even if it means she sits in a cell, I won't force my way into her head if she says no. Besides, I don't think I could. I'm still pretty new to the whole 'mental communication through the force' thing and she's been doing it her entire life."

Cracken sighed and rubbed his temples as if he were trying to ward off a headache. "Do what you can, Skywalker. For the record, I really hope she's sincere. Someone with this kind of knowledge and more training than one of Madine's commandos would be a massive asset."

Luke nodded and went back into the room. Mara looked at him expectantly and said, "Skywalker, I will kiss you if you just tell me that I'm good to get out of here, get my weapons and take whatever oath required to join the Alliance."

Luke sat down and chuckled, "Temping. I could tell you that but it wouldn't quite be honest. Would I still get that kiss then?"

Mara scowled and said, "No, I would, on the knuckles of my right hand when I belt you across the mouth, Farmboy. Come on! What gives?"

Luke rubbed his own temples and said, "They want me to read your mind. They want me to get the information straight from the source without filters of any kind."

Mara's face was stormy now and her voice was cold as she asked, "And if I refuse, then what? You force your way into my head if you can just like the Emperor would? You toss me into a cell?"

Luke stiffened, affronted that she would suggest he would do something like the former. "I know we haven't known each other long at all, but I hope you know me well enough to realize I would NEVER do anything like that! I'm not the Emperor and I refuse to be like him. Most likely, they would continue interrogation until they are satisfied or they simply decide to toss you in a cell under extremely heavy guard."

Mara cursed and stood, pacing back and forth. The idea of anyone, especially Skywalker, learning her most intimate and darkest secrets scared her a little. She didn't want Luke to know all the dark and horrible things she had done or that had been done to her during the course of her career. Finally, she sat down again with a low groan. It took every ounce of her will to keep tears from rolling down her cheeks. "Luke, you don't know what you're asking me. I know it seems like such a simple thing but it isn't. You are asking me to reveal my entire being to you – my first real friend and we only just met less than twenty-four hours ago."

Luke was about to protest when she lifted a hand with a small smile and said, "Me trying to kill you on Tatooine does not count as meeting you, Farmboy. I know this is necessary but…" she suddenly felt so vulnerable and hated it but she needed to make Luke understand this. "…Luke I'm so scared." She whispered. Luke was shocked. He reached his left hand, the real one and lay it before her, palm up. Hesitating, she placed her own hand in it. The feeling of his rough, warm hand was comforting to her. "Mara no matter what you have done in the past, I won't think any less of you. Let me make you a deal. If you decide that I can look through your mind, I'll let you do the same to me."

Mara snorted out a short laugh. "I don't find that an even trade, you know. The only embarrassing thing you have in your life is where you came from."

Luke's eyes were dead serious as he uttered two words. "My parentage;"

Mara sobered and sighed. Giving his hand a squeeze, she whispered. "Go ahead, Skywalker."

Luke took a deep breath and pushed out his feelings toward Mara's consciousness. The shields around her mind were completely down. Luke was as gentle as possible as he went through all of her memories from start to finish at the speed of thought. He saw her first lessons with her instructors, a four year old girl fighting, dancing, hunting, surviving and even training in a flight simulator. Luke saw her crying and bleeding as Palpatine and others scolded and punished her for her failures and weaknesses and he felt his own heart beginning to ache for the poor girl. Luke saw her growing up and going out on her assignments. At one point, he noticed that she had seen a much younger him years ago, very shortly after the battle of Yavin. He continued on through her memories and witnessed all of her assignments up until her last one. With each memory came a torrent of different emotions. Luke couldn't witness her actions without being moved with emotion: angers, sadness and disgust. When he had finally finished going through her memories, he looked at her intentions. Even though he had believed her from the moment she had told him, Luke was relieved to see that she was utterly sincere. Suddenly, her voice was in his head, pleading with him. _Please don't hate me. Please don't hate me._

Luke pulled away from her mind and tried to look her in the eye but her head was down. He also noticed two small pools beneath her head on the table. Luke was surprised to realize that his own cheeks were damp with tears. "Hey." He whispered. "I don't hate you, Mara. I'm sorry you felt my anger and disgust but it isn't meant for you. It's meant for the man who did all this to you. No, only my sadness is for you."

Mara looked up and wiped her face. "I don't want your pity, Skywalker."

Luke nodded his head. "It's not pity, Mara, just a little sympathy. I am going to tell Cracken and command that you can be trusted utterly. First, though, you can go through my mind if you'd like."

Mara wanted to know the man across from her. She had seen his file so many times and knew about his service record but so little about the man beneath all the glamor and glory. She realized with a jolt that they were still holding hands. Luke looked down and smiled a little sheepishly before giving a small squeeze and retracting his hand. Mara looked into his piercing blue eyes and said, "Lower your shields. I promise, I'll be gentle."

Suddenly, Luke looked worried, "Was I gentle enough? I didn't hurt you did I?"

Mara chuckled. "I don't think you know how to cause pain yet, Luke."

Luke closed his eyes and felt her consciousness against his shields. It took concentration to lower them fully. Mara dove straight to his furthest memories and began to go through them as if going through files in a cabinet. He was with her the whole time. She went through his childhood with his uncle, learning to work on the speeders they owned and the moisture vaporators and the droids. She watched as he met Ben Kenobi, an old hermit who saved him from trouble a number of times while he was growing up. Mara saw his friends and the races they had with their Skyhoppers through the Tatooine canyons. She saw him seeing a rebel ship attacked by an Imperial Star Destroyer and then buying two familiar droids shortly after. She witnessed Luke returning to the farm only to find it burning and his aunt and uncle dead. Mara felt herself gasp at the pain she felt from him. Deciding to speed things along, she rifled through the memories from that point forward. She saw the escape from the first Death Star and then its destruction. Mara saw all his flights and battles with Rogue Squadron and other missions leading up to Hoth. She witnessed all the missions leading up to this point. During all of this, Mara noticed points of pain and joy and she avoided both of them. What she did pay attention to were Skywalker's hopes and dreams and also a huge shadow of guilt. He hoped to help defeat the Empire and establish a New Republic. He hoped to defeat the Emperor. To her great shock, Mara found deep within his mind a belief that DARTH VADER still had good in him and Luke hoped to draw him back from the dark side. Mara pulled herself away from his mind. For several moments, she wrestled with that last piece of information. Struggling with the idea that the towering monstrosity or black armor could have good in him, she looked Luke in the eye. "I know what you hope for, Luke and I'm sorry but there is no good left in him. Anikan Skywalker is dead. Darth Vader is all that remains."

Luke looked her in the eye and said, "If that is the case, then I must defeat him."

Mara was about to reply when Cracken entered again. "What's the verdict, Commander?"

Luke looked at Mara and then at the General. "Sir, I would place my life and our cause in her hands right now. She is utterly sincere."

Cracken nodded as if expecting the outcome. "Well then, Miss Jade, you will be given the rank of Lieutenant and quarters, uniforms and equipment will be placed at your disposal as needed. Of course, your weapons will be returned along with your droid and your ship. Understand this, though: You are on probation and Skywalker is your supervising officer."

Cracken turned to Luke. "Commander, she is not to leave your sight except for the obvious needs. Anywhere you go, she better be tied to your hip and if she is found alone anywhere, you will be reprimanded and she will be incarcerated. Her quarters will be right next to yours. Do you both understand?"

Luke saluted but then looked a little confused, "Uh, General, where are my quarters? This is my first time on this cruiser."

Cracken chuckled and shook his head while he tapped on a datapad. After a moment, the General said, "They have quarters for you in the living area with Rogue Squadron. Jade, your quarters will be between Commander Antilles' and Commander Skywalker's." He turned to walk away but then paused one last time and said, "Oh and Commander Skywalker –"

Luke turned to him, a question in his blue eyes. The General's smile became big and genuine. "Between your furlough after Hoth, the mission to save General Solo and this last random run-off, General Reikan and Admiral Ackbar has decided that you have spent your leave for the rest of your career."

A huge grin crossed Luke's face as he saluted and Mara smiled too. Happily, Luke went to the locker, unlocked it, pulled out her belt and holster and handed to her. "Thanks, Farm boy."

Cracken chuckled and left the area. Luke blushed and said, "You know if you keep doing that, everyone is going to start too."

Mara smirked, "Nope. No one gets to call you Farmboy but me."

Mara was so grateful to Luke for helping her and for accepting her. She had never had a real friend, a true friend before this and was having trouble deciding how she wanted to show him that gratitude. Skywalker was heading towards the door. "Luke…" He turned to her and she embraced him and kissed him lightly on the cheek before whispering, "…thank you so much - for everything."

Luke hugged her back and blushed deeply at her kiss. "I didn't do much, Mara. It was all you. You made the right choice and it's already paying off for you, Lieutenant."

Mara leaned back so she could look at his face. "I meant for accepting me, despite all the terrible things I've done for such a terrible person."

Luke smiled kindly and said, "Everyone has baggage, Mara. It would be hypocritical to judge you for yours."

Mara snorted in amusement. "You don't have enough dirt on you to fill a flimsyplast lunch bag, Farmboy. That's why it means so much for you to accept me. Someone as innocent and – and just GOOD as you are would have every right to despise me."

Luke was about to reply when they heard a throat clearing nearby. Clearing her throat, Mara hastily let him go and looked around. Mara and Luke froze at the sight of a group of people staring at them from near the entrance to the detainee storage room. Luke groaned and grinned at the same time.

"Don't let us interrupt, kid. We can wait." Said a tall man wearing a white shirt, black vest and blue pants with a blood stripe and a smirk on his chiseled face. Around him were a dark skinned man in a uniform with a hip cape, a short woman with brown hair, a wookie with blue eyes and the pilot who had greeted Luke in the hanger. Luke walked up and hugged each of them in turn. The wookie roared and gave him a rough wookie hug. The black haired pilot nodded towards Mara and said, "Are you going to introduce us, Luke?"

Luke chuckled. "She can introduce herself. Mara?"

Mara walked up and proffered her small hand to each of them in turn. "Name's Mara Jade. I'm a Lieutenant now I guess and I'll be going where the Farmboy goes."

The tall man in the vest burst out laughing. "Farmboy? Damn, Kid. You gonna put up with that?"

Luke retorted, "I put up with you calling me 'kid' all the time."

Han took Mara's hand. "Han Solo, Captain of the Millennium Falcon and General in the Rebel Alliance Special Forces. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Jade. This furball is Chewbacca, my copilot."

Mara smiled. She knew who Han Solo was. The short woman took her hand next. "Leia Organa. Glad to have you. General Cracken said you gave us a treasury of information. High command thanks you."

The black haired pilot smiled and took her hand next. "Commander Wedge Antilles, at your service, Lieutenant. Hope to get to know you better."

Last of all, the dark skinned man took her hand gently and, instead of shaking it, lifted it to his lips and kissed it. "I think me may have met before though neither of us were really ourselves, were we? I'm General Lando Callrissian though you met me as Tamtel Sweej and I met you as Arica, I think."

Mara's eyes widened as she remembered an armored guard in Jabba's palace. "I do remember you; Pleasure to meet you again, General."

Luke stepped in and said, "Well we haven't eaten in a while so I'm going to take Lieutenant Jade to the dining hall. We can talk while we eat. I want to hear what's been going on."

Mara sent a thought towards Luke. _Can we talk later Farmboy? There are a few things I want to discuss in private if possible._

 _Of course, Mara. Let's go get something to eat first._

 **Updated Mat 23, 2016**


	5. Chapter 5: Too Much Comfort

Mara Jade looked down at the food on her tray with a small amount of disappointment. Though she was happy it wasn't ration bars or dehydrant rations or anything like that, she had hoped it would be better than what the average Imperial dining facility could put up. Across from her, Luke was shoveling the food into his mouth with the same gusto as he ate his own cooking. Mara couldn't help but smile. "Farmboy, you amaze me sometimes. You seem to be enjoying that as much as your own food."

Before Luke could swallow his food and reply, Han Solo straightened and looked at Luke. "Wait a second and hold the comlink, you can cook?"

Everyone at the table, with the exception of Wedge, who had gotten to eaten Luke's cooking during a couple missions, looked surprised. Luke swallowed his food and shrugged, "Yeah I can cook. So what?"

Han looked at Mara and asked, "He any good at it?" Mara chuckled, "Oh yeah. Give him fresh ingredients and he could make a great meal."

Leia shook her head in mock hurt. "After all we been through together, we have to learn from a new recruit that you can cook. Why haven't you cooked for us before, Luke? That's just hurtful."

Han joined in too. "After all the times I saved your six, the least you could have done is fix me a proper meal. Nothing against these Alliance cooks but they have no idea how to properly season anything. It's all so bland."

Luke shrugged, shoveling more food into his mouth to avoid answering. Mara began to eat her food too while it was still warm. Solo was right, the stuff was so bland. Looking around, she grabbed a small seasoning container and shook ample amounts of the mix onto all her food – except the fruit, which was swimming in syrup, a dead giveaway that it was canned. Luke pushed a small bottle of something over to her. The label read _Sullustan_ _Spice Sauce._ Mara took a skeptical sniff and pushed the bottle away, her face pinched. "How can you use that stuff, Skywalker? Your taste buds must be completely burned away."

Luke swallowed his mouthful and said, "I don't use much. It adds a little flavor and a nice kick. Anyhow, one of these days, I'll cook a big meal for all of you as a celebration."

Lando Calrissian cocked a dark brow. "Oh? And What will we be celebrating, Buddy?" Luke shrugged, swallowed another mouthful of food and said, "I don't know. We'll have to come up with a reason."

Wedge pushed away his empty tray with a grunt. "Hey Luke, how do I get that cute little tholothian server to give me more food? She never has a problem overfilling your tray."

Luke was about to take another bite. He shrugged, the fork still half way to his mouth. "No clue. Maybe if you smile at her real big and say please, she'll do that for you."

Leia chuckled, "Sorry, Wedge, but unless your Luke Skywalker, I think regular portions are all you're going to get like the rest of us common rebels."

Mara pulled a ration bar from her belt and tossed it to Wedge. "You can chew on that if you're still hungry."

Luke finished his last bite and pushed his tray back with a sigh of satisfaction. "So what's been happening while I was away?"

With the exception of Mara, they all looked at each other before Leia cleared her throat and said, "Quite a lot has happened actually. As you can see, our two scoundrel friends here have been given the rank of general – Han is in the Special Forces and Lando is a part of Starfighter Command now. The attack on the new Death Star was all planned and ready until you got back with new intel. Now, from what I understand, Command is in turmoil trying to figure out what the hell to do. I wouldn't be surprised if both of you are summoned before them. Wedge has done some great stuff. He lead the fighters that escorted the transports to acquire the tibanna gas from Bespin and he also had a hand capturing a shuttle from the Imperial Academy on Carida. Just before you got back, he lead a strike force to Fondor to destroy an Executer-Class Destroyer that apparently had a cloaking device on it. He'll probably be promoted again."

Wedge was chewing on the ration bar. Around the mouthful, he scowled and mumbled, "There is no way I'm going to be stuck on a bridge when I could be in the cockpit of a starfighter. Just let them try and promote me."

Luke chuckled. Wedge was not happy if there was action and he wasn't in his fighter. Han was picking his teeth with a fork before saying, "Enough about us though, Kid. What have you been up to?"

Luke sipped his drink before beginning an account of his actions after the others had escaped Jabba's barge. "Well Mara and I were fighting as you all pulled away. I managed to hold her off and, when there was a pause in the fight, I used the gun to blow the barge up."

Mara swallowed her food and said, "'Managed to hold me off?' Farmboy, you are too modest. You almost killed me a couple times."

Luke blushed ever so slightly. "Anyhow, I escaped and went back to Dagobah to see Yoda. Apparently, Mara had followed me. Yoda and I were talking when Mara showed up and Yoda sent me back to his hut so he could talk to her alone. I went back and meditated and practiced some lightsaber drills. Awhile later, Yoda hobbled back and..." Luke swallowed and decided against telling them everything that they had discussed. Mara gave Luke an odd look but didn't say anything. "...we did a few more exercises before heading into the hut to eat. While in the hut, Yoda laid down on his bed and passed away."

Luke had to pause for a second. His emotions were beginning to get ahead of him. Leia and Mara both reached across and each took one of his hands. They looked at each other a little oddly before retracting their hands. Luke cleared his throat and continued, "After that, I went out to get ready to leave when Obi-Wan Kenobi's spirit came to talk to me. He gave me some insight, made a few things quite clear that I can't really talk about right now. Not long after that, Mara came back."

Han Solo smirked, "So you both decided to kiss and make up?"

Mara glared vibro-blades at him while Luke just scowled. "Not quite, Nerf brain. We talked and she convinced me that she wanted to defect. When she told me that she and Yoda had talked and that she had her eyes opened, I believed her. Yoda was a wise and powerful being and he didn't give me any warnings before he passed on. Well Mara and I worked it out and she used her ship to pick up my X-wing and we headed back here."

They all looked at him, except Mara who was eating the last morsel of her food. Chewie rumbled something and Han said, "That's what I was thinking, buddy. So that's it? Nothing interesting or special happened?"

Luke looked at his friend in confusion. "Well of course something did. Mara has joined the Alliance and has given us a treasure trove of critical information not to mention I'm pretty sure she has more training and skill than any two of Madine's commandos. What are you talking about?"

Han and Chewie both chuckled heartily. Wedge was grinning like an idiot and winked at Luke. "We'll talk later, Boss."

Lando was just looking between Luke and Mara like a gambler weighing the odds. Leia was doing a remarkable job at keeping a straight face but her eyes were laughing as hard as Han and Chewie. It took all of Luke's self control to keep from snapping at them. Mara on the other hand was glaring at all of them like she was ready to cut all their throats. "And what exactly do you think happened during the flight here, Solo?"

Han put his hands up in a disarming gesture. "I have no idea, Red. That's why I'm asking. Seems like something happened if you too are getting all worked up."

Luke spluttered and said, "Oh kriff, Han. We had just met so we took the opportunity to get to know each other a little better..." His voice trailed off as Han, Wedge, Lando and Chewie burst into helpless laughter. Leia was shaking her head and chuckling herself. Mara was glaring at Luke now. _Shut up, Farmboy!_ _You're only making this look worse._

Luke was as red as Vader's lightsaber blade. He stood up, grabbed his tray and began to walk towards the turn-in line. Han called after him. "Oh come on, Luke. You have to admit you opened yourself up there. If it didn't seem like you were trying to hide anything, we wouldn't be so damn curious."

Mara turned her blazing emerald glare at him. "All we did was get some lightsaber practice and a little bit of hand to hand combat training and interrogation training in. That's it."

Leia's eyes twinkled and she asked ever so nonchalantly, "Hand to hand combat and interrogation, huh? Were you grappling? Who was the prisoner and who was the captor?"

Mara answered without seeing the trap. "We did do a little grappling and Luke was the prisoner and I..."

It was her turn to turn red now and she glared at the princess. Wedge winked and said, "Kinky."

All of them were laughing now. Mara even felt humor coming from Luke's mind. Standing quickly, she grabbed her tray, hustled after Luke and muttered, "I blame you for this, Farmboy and you're going to get it later."

Luke shrugged in a 'what can you do' way and they left the hall, their friends' laughter still ringing in their ears.

First they headed to the hanger and Mara's freighter. Mara gathered some of her more favorite weapons, all her clothes and a large box of tools and they put them on a hover cart. Luke emptied his X-wing's small cargo hold as well and they headed towards their individual quarters. Mara got over her embarrassment from the dining hall pretty quick. Luke asked her about her weapons and gear and she was eager to tell him. In turn, she asked Luke about what he had learned from Obi-Wan and Yoda. Luke was a little shy about it since he had received so little formal training. He had learned lightsaber drills and how to meditate and how to focus and shield his thoughts and how to use the force to augment his physical abilities as well as how to use telekinesis. Anything else he knew, he had learned from experience, trial and error. "I'm impressed, Farmboy. You went toe to toe with Darth Vader and survived without very much training at all. Yoda was right. You're going to be a great and powerful Jedi some day."

Luke smiled at her kind words. They deposited all their gear in their respective quarters and Mara said, "I'm gonna take a little nap. I'm still exhausted and it's catching up to me. Wake me when and if anything interesting happens, will you Farmboy?"

Luke chuckled and said, "I'll do that. Have a good sleep, Mara. Welcome to the Alliance."

Mara was surprised at the thrill those words caused her. She smiled and said, "Thanks, Luke. I'll see you later."

Luke nodded and she went into her quarters. Immediately after Luke got settled into his quarters, a knock sounded at the door. Frowning, Luke went and opened it. Wedge was standing outside looking a little sheepish. "Hey Luke. Look I'm sorry about earlier. I just kinda got caught up in it all."

Luke slapped his friend's shoulder with a grin. "Don't worry about it, buddy. It's not like I haven't been thoroughly and brutally teased before. What's up? Is everything okay?"

Wedge nodded and Luke motioned him inside. The officers quarters aboard the MC80 Star Cruiser Home One were all pretty much the same. They had a bed, a table, a desk, an arm chair and a half dozen metal chairs as well as a refresher, a small refrigeration unit and an even smaller heating unit.

Luke leaned against the desk while Wedge plopped down on one of the chairs. With a calculating look, Wedge said, "So boss, what can you tell me about her? I'm not trying to poke fun or anything like that, I'm genuinely curious and maybe being a little over-protective of my CO or I guess my co-CO."

Luke could tell when Wedge was serious and when he was not. This time, he was serious. "She was an agent who was pretty high up in the Imperial Hierarchy. She's also force sensitive like me and she has more training than any special operations or special forces operative that I have ever seen or heard of. She gave the Alliance more information than a hundred Bothan spies or commandos could hope get for us. I wish I could say more but I feel it's not my place to say. If you want to ask her, you can but I'd be careful. Mara Jade is fiercely protective of her privacy. She contemplated sitting in a cell rather than giving up some information."

Wedge nodded. After a short silence, he looked at Luke and asked, "How have you been, Luke? It's been so long since we could just sit and talk."

Luke nodded. "I'm doing okay. The last year – well basically since Hoth – has been a little crazy. There are some things I still don't understand. Solo was captured and we were able to save him but not before I had to face down Darth Vader and lose my right hand. That whole confrontation was..." And Luke shook his head. He still wasn't really ready to talk about it to everyone. If he felt the need, he would talk to Mara. She knew already anyway. "...it changed me, Wedge. As much as I would love to be able to fly with you and the Rogues, I know what I have another mission and one that only I can complete. I just don't know how."

The black haired pilot nodded. "I get what you're saying, Luke. The Rogues and I miss you but we also understand. You're a Jedi and that makes you more important than the whole of Rogue Squadron. What ever it is you've been through and that you have to do, just remember that you need SOMEONE. You need someone who you can trust and who can help you through this. I know it can't always be me being your wingman but just make sure you're not alone, alright? You're a pilot. You know it's safer that way."

Luke nodded and they stood and hugged and slapped each others' backs soundly. "It's so good to have you back, boss." Said Wedge quietly.

Wedge left and Luke sat down on his bed in a cross-legged sitting position and took a deep breath. Slowly, he felt his mind calm and slip into a state of sublime meditation. The currents of the force flowed through and around him. All the lives in the living area, the ship, the fleet were as thousands of lights to him, though he could not focus on them yet. His connection to the force was not disciplined and focused enough. As he worked to strengthen his discipline and focus, Luke suddenly heard a cry out for help in the force - one that he recognized. _He's hunting me! He's going to find me! Help! Oh please help me!_

Luke snapped out of meditation and ran to his door. He opened it and ran down the corridor. First, he pounded on Mara's door but no one came. "Mara? Mara are you alright?"

There was no answer. Luke looked down at the door mechanism and contemplated trying to use the force to pick the lock. Instead, he closed his eyes and sent his mind towards Mara's. The sheer fear and panic inside it caused him to cringe but he kept on, trying to reign in all her turbulent thoughts and to get her attention. _Mara! Mara! It's okay, you're safe. I'm right here, Mara._

Her mental barriers had utterly collapsed and that was how Luke knew that their really was something wrong. Even in sleep, Mara maintained at least some mental shielding. When he felt that those shields were down, he dove into the deepest parts of her mind. In a dark corner where all of Mara's most painful memories and vulnerable emotions were stored was another presents. Luke could sense Mara there, in pain and utterly terrified. _Luke, he found me. Help me, please, before he takes control._

The other presents was vast and dark and evil. A mirthless cackle sounded in Mara's mind and Luke knew who it was instantly, recognizing is from Mara's memory. The Emperor had found her somehow and he was trying to use his mind to overwhelm and take control of hers. Steeling his own berries to the strongest they had ever been, Luke slammed his own consciousness against the Emperor. He expected his mind to shatter off of the darkness of at least rebound off like a synthrubber ball. To his surprise, the darkness gave. _Do not meddle with me and my servant, boy. You're time will come soon enough. Now go._

Luke looked for the way that Palpatine had entered Mara's mind and, upon locating, said to Mara, _We can do this, Mara. You and I can push him out and close the link._

Mara's mind was so battered down by the Emperor's assault that she only whimpered. Luke felt her brush against him like a small child who needed comforting. Luke brushed her mind in return before he focused on the Emperor again and began to isolate what he could of Mara's mind from him while he continued to encourage Mara. _Raise_ _your shields, Mara. Raise_ _your shields and force him out. I know you can do this. You broke the connection once and you can do it again. I can only contain him and I won't be able to long._

Even with just that slight reinforcement of her mind, Luke could feel Mara's mind becoming stronger. He felt her push hard against the Emperor and gain ground. As she did, Luke would do what he could to push with her and strengthen her shields. Her voice was strong when she said _You will never control me again, Palpatine. Now. Get. Out!_

With a mighty push of her mind, Mara pushed the Emperor out again and Luke added his mental shields to hers, shattering the mental link again. Luke was about to pull away when Mara's voice in his head whispered _Stay with me for a bit, Farmboy? Please just stay for a little while._

Luke gave an acknowledging thought and kept the connection up as he walked back to his room and sat back on his bed. He kept the connection open until Mara's mind was in a beautiful dream-land where she was safe and happy. He left her then, not wanting to invade her privacy too much. Before he left though, he whispered in her mind, _I will be there to help defend you when ever I can, Mara – I promise._

Like a slumbering child, Mara murmured in acknowledgement and Luke departed from her mind. When he was fully back in his mind, he took a deep breath and placed his head in his hands. It hurt a little bit and he couldn't kick the feeling that a huge complication had just entered their plans. If the Emperor could find her and could take control of her, it wouldn't matter what Mara's intentions were. She would still be a danger. He needed to meditate on this a little more. Settling back into the meditative state he had been in early, he contemplated the problems at hand.

Mara woke with mixed feelings. She felt rested physically and felt an odd mixture of peace and pain in her mind. Sitting up and stretching, she reached out to Skywalker with her thoughts. He was in a deep meditative state. Mentally whispering so as not to startle him out of his contemplation, Mara thought to him, _Hey. Can you come over to my quarters?_

Luke's mind snapped fully to awareness and he agreed. Within moments Mara heard him tapping on the door. Reaching out with the force, Mara opened the door and Luke stepped in. For a moment, he stared at her, his mouth slack. Mara was about to ask him what he was gawking at when she remembered that she was wearing nothing by a gray tank top and matching underwear. Using the force, she grabbed a robe and threw it over her shoulders as she stood. "Sorry about that, Skywalker. I guess having you in the deepest darkest corners of my mind desensitizes me to having you see me almost naked."

Luke nodded and cleared his dry throat, red to the ears. Mara chuckled at him. What a farm boy. "First off, thank you. I don't think I could have fought Palpatine off without you there."

Mara walked over and hugged him. Luke smiled and returned the hug. "I'll do whatever I can to help until we find a more permanent solution. Is there a way to seal the link up for good, to make sure that he can never bond with you like that again?"

Mara began braiding her hair as they talked. "It would take a long time of brainwashing and reprogramming for Palpatine to totally regain control and that's if I let him. What I'm worried about is that, at a critical moment, if he were to gain control of my mind even for just a short period of time, it would be disastrous."

Luke nodded, pacing back and forth. After she had braided her golden-red curls, Mara grabbed some items of clothing and disappeared into the refresher. "I can still hear you, Farmboy. What are your thoughts on this?"

Luke scratched his chin. After a moment, he asked, "Is there a way to completely block him out?"

Mara answered, "The Emperor knows every crack and chink in my armor because he knows me so damn well. He knows things about me that I'm not fully aware of."

Luke sighed and sat on one of the metal chairs. This was really getting complicated. "What can we do, Mara? You know a lot more about this whole telepathic thing than I do. Any ideas?"

Mara came back out wearing a skintight, black and sleeveless body suit made of thin but durable synthleather. Luke had to physically concentrate on not letting his jaw drop. Every curve and protrusion of Mara's feminine body was clearly visible from her shoulders to her ankles. On her feet, she slipped on socks and her boots while she said, "Palpatine always said that my bond with him was unique. I'm not sure if he was being honest or not anymore. He never gave me the particulars of how this bond works."

Mara stood back up and grasped the zipper of the body suit. Slowly, presumably to make sure that the zipper wouldn't catch on her undershirt or skin, she raised the zipper. Luke was looking around at the room to avoid staring at her.

She began to move around the room, gathering her weapons and gear. Luke noticed a natural sway in her hips as she moved, one that was hidden when she ware tunics or jumpsuits. He was having the damnedest time focusing when she was wearing that body suit. Luke began trying to examine the room again, looking everywhere but at her. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep from turning back and staring at her every few seconds. Mara frowned . "Luke, what are you doing? The room is just like yours, why do you find it so interesting?"

Luke's ears and face began to burn and he sighed. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Mara frowned and looked down at herself to try and figure out why he kept taking long looks at her before turning away and studying some random part of the wall. She had warn this very suit around hundreds of men before and they had never had this much trouble with keeping their minds on the task at hand. Cleary Skywalker had never had actually soldier's training or else his focus would be better. At least he would be able to hide his leering a little better. Still, the farm boy awkwardness and earnestness caused her to smile and chuckle. "Give me a moment, Farmboy. Kriff! One would think you've never seen a pretty girl before."

Luke bit his tongue and tightened his shields to make sure that she wouldn't be able to sense his thoughts. She went to the dresser and opened the bottom drawer. Bending down, she pulled one of the camouflage ponchos out and straightened before slipping it over her head.

Luke hadn't been able to do anything but stare as she bent over, her back to him, and picked up the poncho. When it was in place, she turned and said, "There. Better?"

Luke felt like an absolute idiot. Suppressing a groan, he plopped down on a metal chair again. Mara shook her head in amusement. "We'll talk more about THAT later."

Luke shook his head, read from ear to ear. He managed to ask, "Is there any other way to keep him out?"

Mara shrugged. "I stay close to another powerful force user who I alert and let into my mind to help me out any time Palpatine tries to force his way in. In truth, that's our only option at the moment."

Luke nodded and stood. "Well then we'll stick close together and keep our minds open."

Mara smiled and chuckled again. "We have to anyway since I'm on probation. Is there anywhere on this over sized tub that I can get a workout in?"

Luke chuckled and said, "Let me get changed. We can go to the recreational area."

Mara followed him into his room, sat on a chair and crossed her legs as Luke disappeared into the refresher to change. She looked around at the room. The desk had been turned into a work bench with precision tools on it. On the desk was Luke's lightsaber. Curious, Mara got up and picked it up. It was slightly heavier than hers but the balance was amazing. She activated it and noted the color of the green-white blade. It was beautiful. With a sigh, she shut the lightsaber off and set it down. Hers had been a gift to her from the Emperor. She would love to make her own but didn't quite know how. Maybe someday, Skywalker would help her out. "Of course I will." Luke said from beside her, startling her just a little. Mara glared at him and opened her mouth but Luke said, "Your shields weren't very tight so I took a look. You do the same thing to me and you know it."

Mara nodded. She did do that. "Alright, Commander Farmboy, lead the way to the Rec Room."

Luke shook his head. _Really? Commander Farmboy?_

The Recreation Room was actually just a cargo hold with work out equipment and training mats for hand to hand combat training. When they showed up, the Luke and Mara started with another lightsaber sparring match. It unavoidably drew quite a crowed as they spun, slashed, dodged and thrust with their brilliant blades of light. As before, they were pretty close in skill level but Mara noticed that each time Luke made an attack, he held back some of the power from it just in case he had to pull away at the last moment. It wasn't coddling her but it still annoyed her that he felt like he had to do that. After a little over an hour, they called the match. Mara couldn't help voice her thoughts. "You're holding back, Farmboy. Don't worry so much about hurting me. You're cheating yourself of the full benefits of a practice session, you know."

Luke nodded as he tossed her a bottle of water and opened one of his own. "I know, I just don't want to hurt you."

Mara smiled. "I understand but that is going to translate into the next real lightsaber duel you have. Don't worry. Trust your training and your control. I know that, even at full force, you could stop from hurting me. You are a Jedi, after all. Have some confidence in yourself. I do or I wouldn't be sparring with you."

Luke felt a swell of pride at her saying that. "Thanks, Mara."

She slapped him on the shoulder and said, "Come on. I still want to see how good you're hand to hand combat skills are. From where I was standing on the Suwantek, they seemed pretty good."

Luke chuckled and they headed towards a group of commandos sparring and grappling. One of them came up to Luke with a big grin and proffered his hand. "Skywalker! Where the frak have you been? We've missed having you around to teach us how it's done!"

Luke chuckled and clasped the mans hand. "Well I'm here now, Page. Anyone here need whipped into shape?"

Mara watched with interest as several others came and shook Luke's hand before pointing to a couple of their number. The first man, Judder Page, pointed and said, "Those two think they have it all figured out. Think you can educate them, Commander Skywalker?"

Luke nodded and a ring was formed. Luke took off his shirt and tossed it off to the side along with his boots and socks. Mara couldn't help but give him a couple appreciative glances. Though the tunics and cloaks he seemed to prefer tended to hide it, Skywalker was well put together with little to no access fat and noticeable muscle mass around the shoulders and chest. Bare footed and bare chested, he faced a man who was at least six inches taller and much heavier than he was. The bigger man nodded respectfully. "I've heard a lot about you, Commander Skywalker."

Luke smiled pleasantly. "Much of it is exaggerated, I'm sure. I'll bet Page told you I took down three AT-AT walkers on foot at the battle of Hoth AND shot down a dozen attack shuttles."

The big man looked at Page, who winked, and then back at Luke. "Something like that, Commander."

Luke chuckled said, "Page, stop telling tall tales. You and I both no it was TWO AT-ATs and only three scout walker transports."

The other man's eyes widened. Luke put his hands up and said, "Alright, let's see how well Page and his commandos are teaching you all."

The big man grinned and put his hands up and they circled. It was a short fight. The bigger man tried to use a single roundhouse punch and found himself on his back, gasping for breath with one arm in a lock and a bare foot on his throat. Luke cocked an eyebrow. "Escape if you can, soldier."

The big man struggled for a few moments before stopping and saying, "You got me, Commander."

Page strode over and showed the new commando several tricks, both to avoid landing in the position and to escape when he was in it. Page then motion a veteran commando over and sent him with the youngster to practice the moves. The second and third matches went just the same and Mara was wondering how the Alliance Special Forces had gained such infamy in the Empire with the sloppy techniques and combination they were using. Luke looked over to her and grinned. _You know, you're broadcasting, right? These guys just passed selection and pre-commando training and are going to be guerilla_ _fighters when Page and Madine_ _are done with them. Besides, you and I both know what there is more to combat than hand to hand combat. You're turn, Jade. Why don't you show one of these boys how it's done on Yinchorr_ _at the Royal Guard Academy these days?_

Mara smiled at him with a wicked gleam in her. She pulled off the poncho and slipped her arms out of the body suit, just like she had with her jumpsuit for their match aboard the Suwantek, the garment only being held up by her utility belt. This time, she ware a thinner, tighter and shorter black undershirt. Stepping into the ring, she looked at the men around her, all of them doing admirable jobs at hiding the fact that they were staring at her appreciatively. Looking from one to the other, Mara's predatory gaze fell on her intended victim. She pointed at him and said, "You."

Luke looked behind himself before realizing that she was pointing at him. "Me?"

Mara nodded. "Yes you. We need to finish what we started on the trip here – unless you're willing to say here, in front of all your big, brawny friends that you're scared of little old me." She placed a hand on her cocked hip and smirked.

Oh, she was really playing dirty now. Luke shook his head, laughing to himself. He knew he was going to regret this. Readying himself for quite possibly the toughest fight he had ever gone through, he took a deep breath, looked Mara in the eyes with a confident smile and said, "Nope. I'm still not afraid of you Jade."

The wicked gleam in Mara's eyes traveled to her mouth now and she lowered herself into a fighting stance. Luke followed her exampled and everyone stepped back. Several of them ran to their datapads and, having recording devices on them, got ready for a spectacular fight. Rumor's about the young woman who had joined recently had spread – rumors that she was an elite agent who's soul purpose was hunting down and killing potential Jedi who were in the Alliance. This wasn't true but the fact that she was now standing across the ring from Luke Skywalker, the last remaining Jedi made the truth rather mute. Page was looking from one to the other before saying, "No force techniques. When you two are ready, go at it."

With that, Mara moved almost too fast to see WITHOUT her using the force. Luke knew as soon as she flinched that there was know way he was winning this fight but that sure didn't stop him from trying. He caught a half dozen Echani kicks on his shins and forearms before being able to even attempt to return any attacks of his own. Back and forth they went. Mara landed three blows for every one of Luke's but the Jedi was tough. Pain meant very little to him. The worst he had ever felt, the loss of his real arm to a lightsaber, made the rest of it feel like little more than irritating itching or tickling. In contrast, Luke had a harder time hitting Mara but when he did, the force of the blow would shake her even if the pain didn't daunt her either. One of his roundhouse kicks picked her up off the ground and sent her crashing to the floor. Luke tried to capitalize on the opportunity and mount her so that he could strike from above only to find himself flipped over her head and almost into the crowed of watching commandos. Growling, he stood, his blue eyes shining with pure competitive joy. The look was mirrored in Mara Jade's green eyes as and they both ran at each other with a roar. The sound of landing blows and heavy breathing filled the room as more and more people came in to observe. Luke had a hold of Mara in his mechanical right hand and was trying to land a blow with his left but she moved in to close to punch, hooked an arm under his shoulder, turned so that her back was up tight against his stomach and chest, dropped to one knee and rolled Luke over her shoulder onto the ground, using his own weight to make the throw. Before Luke could roll, she was on him, trying to punch him while he was down. Luke caught one of her blows on his chin and the other with his hands. Yanking her down and hugging her arm to his chest, he heaved her over by getting his legs under him and pushing. Mara held on tight with her legs, locking them around his waste and trying to yank her arm free but to no avail. Instead, she grabbed the back of his head and jerked him down as close as possible and elbowed him in the forehead. Using attack as a distraction, Mara unlocked her legs, hoisted her hips higher, pushed Luke back and then wrapped her legs around one of his arms and his neck. Despite how much he struggled, Luke was caught as one of her legs locked behind the opposite knee, forming a very tight and constricting lock. Luke and Mara were breathing heavily and Luke was slowly beginning to turn purple. Gasping, Mara said, "Are you scared of me, Farmboy?"

In the background, one of the commandos snickered. "Did she just call Commander Skywalker 'Farmboy'?"

Luke was just barely able to wheeze out, "I'm glad you're on our side, Jade cause if you weren't I would be kriffing terrified."

They stared at each other for several moments before Mara gasped out. "That works." And let him go, laying flat on her back, sweaty, exhausted and grinning like a child who had just won a game. Luke flopped down perpendicular to her, unknowingly resting his head on her bare midriff like a pillow as the universe around him became clear again, oxygen filled his lungs and full awareness returned. The room was suddenly filled with clapping hands and cheering as the soldiers, pilots, techs, commandos, marines and other personnel of the MC80 _Home One_ who had seen the bout applauded the two combatants. Page helped Luke up who in turned pulled Mara to her feet. They both leaned onto their knees and continued to gasp for air, grinning at one another. Suddenly, the cheering cut off a section of the crowed parted. Luke straightened as Admiral Ackbar, General Crix Madine and Mon Mothma appeared. Both Luke and Mara blushed furiously both for breathing like they had just discovered oxygen and because of their state of undress. Mara immediately pulled the body fully back on and Luke summoned his shirt, socks and boots as well as Mara's poncho and quickly redressed as General Madine chuckled dryly and asked, "Are you enjoying yourselves Commander, Lieutenant?"

Luke, who was still pulling one of his socks on stood to attention and said, "Yes sir. At least I am. Lieutenant Jade will have to speak for herself."

Mon Mothma had a small smile on her face. "Luke, please finish getting dressed. We need the two of you to join us in the conference room with Generals Cracken, Callrissian and Solo. Please be there in five minutes."

All three of them left as Luke and Mara finished getting dressed. Inside Luke's head, he heard, _Damn, Farmboy!_ _That was a hell of a match. I noticed that you avoided doing much striking with your cybernetic hand. Why is that?_

Luke returned mildly as they gathered the gear they had brought and hustled out of the Recreational Room. _In a real fight, I could use my right hand to punch through transparasteel_ – _well at least some transparasteel. In a practice match, I need to be more careful or else I'll injure my partner._

Mara felt slightly cheated of a true victory. "Damn it, Luke! If you keep holding back like that, how will we ever know which of us is better."

Luke laughed out loud at that. "I didn't know it was that serious. To me it's not that big of a deal. Even if we did decide that one of us was better than the other for sure, wouldn't we still practice together?"

Mara grumbled. "Of course we would."

Luke chuckled again. "Okay then. You were unbelievable, by the way."

Mara smiled. "Thanks. You have skills yourself, Farmboy."

Luke shook his head at the nickname. He was actually starting to like it.

 **Updated May 24, 2016**


	6. Chapter 6: Guilt and Games

Han Solo smirked and winked knowingly at Luke and Mara as they entered the conference room, still grinning and chuckling to each other. Luke blushed and looked away while Mara scowled at him. "You two having fun together?" asked Han. Both of them were about to retort when Mon Mothma cleared her throat. All eyes turned to her. Her facial expression was severe though her eyes twinkled with amusement. "We are gathered here to discuss the information that Lieutenant Jade has given us as it calls for a rework of our entire battle plan."

Mon Mothma motioned over to two droids, R2-D2 and R3-L9, and a holoprojector which showed a large image of the new Death Star, the forest moon of Endor and a gathering of ships around them. "We learned that the weapons systems of the Death Star are, in fact, operational. We've learned that the garrison on the moon has been increased and that it is comprised of the 501st Legion, one of the best if not the best that the Empire has to put forth. Lastly, we learned that there is a sizable fleet scattered around and ready to move in if the Emperor calls. Does that cover everything, Lieutenant Jade?"

Mara had been walking the projection, studying it carefully. After a moment, she said, "Unfortunately, that covers it. How can help, Ma'am?"

Admiral Ackbar, a fish-like Mon Calamari, grunted and said in his gravelly voice, "Our battle plan was to send a commando team lead by General Solo to destroy the energy shield generator. If our timing was on, we would be arriving at the Death Star just as the shield went down and our cruisers would form a perimeter while our fighters, led by General Callrissian would fly into the superstructure and destroy the Death Star's reactor core. However, do to the new information, we don't really know if that is still feasible. That's why we are asking if there is any other information that you have."

Mara shook her head. "I gave you all that I have, Admiral. For the record, I think that your plan is still a good one. How many commandos were you planning on sending?"

Han Solo crossed his arms. "Judder Page and a dozen of his best plus Col Serra and another dozen of his best from Renegade Squadron and Grey Squadron. Do you think that will be enough?"

Mara was still circling the projector. The door to the room opened and Leia Organa and Chewbacca strode in. Mara nodded in acknowledgement to them. "Who will your command crew be, General Solo?"

Han fidgeted. "I haven't gotten that far yet. I planned on looking for three or four volunteers after this meeting."

Chewbacca gave a bark and a couple rumbles. "Well that's one. Sorry pal, didn't want to make any assumptions or anything."

Leia smiled too. "I'm coming too, General. We do need at least one level head on that command crew."

Mara looked over at Luke and cocked a brow. Clearing his throat, Luke asked, "Where would we be most helpful?"

They all looked at each other and Han said, "It seems to me that this whole mission's outcome hangs on the shield generator coming down. At the same time, though, Luke is a hell of a pilot – probably the best we have. What do you think, Lando?"

Lando stroked his neat mustache before saying, "The pilots who are slotted to attack the Death Star once the shield is down can handle that, especially since the vast majority of them were either in Renegade Squadron, Rogue Squadron or Grey Squadron who comprise of the best of the best. I think Luke and Mara should help with the ground fight."

Madine nodded. "I think so too. It's settled then. Now we just need to finalize our plan of attack."

Mara looked at him. "What do you mean, General? Is the plan going to change?"

Cracken rubbed his chin. "Shouldn't it change? We can't just ignore the information we have and act as if it wasn't there."

Luke strode up and scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I don't think that Lieutenant Jade is suggesting that, General. It appears to me, however, that our original plan, even with this information, is still our best shot. I would increase the number of troops sent to the moon and I would increase the length of the wait before the fleet arrives."

Admiral Ackbar scratched his chin with his webbed hand and said, "It's risky, Commander. If we wait too long, an Imperial fleet will arrive and be between us and the Death Star. Not only that, but the garrison may have time to retake and repair the shield generator."

Mara saw the sense in what Luke was saying. "On the other hand, Admiral, if you arrive too early you'll be caught between the Death Star and Lord Vader's fleet until the shield goes down. Luke isn't saying to wait a long period of time, just a little longer – less than a quarter day even."

Ackbar sighed. It was a sizeable risk. Solo was scratching the scar on his chin when he said, "If things go ahead of schedule, I can wait a little longer to blow the generator. It is risky but I think it would be worse to arrive too early and be pinned between the Death Star and a fleet of Star Destroyers."

Lando and Madine nodded in agreement. Cracken examined the holograph for a few more moments before saying, "Their right, Admiral, Mon Mothma. There isn't a single option that isn't heavy with risk but I think this is the best. Is there anything else to be done before we begin?"

Madine sighed. "We'll need another ship and we'll need an Executive Officer for the ground operation. Increasing the ground force will require another high ranking officer. Besides that, we just need to brief the squadron commanders, ground force officers and capital ships' commanders."

General Solo leaned over and whispered into Madine's ear. The grizzled general nodded and said, "Commander Skywalker, step forward."

Luke looked uncomfortable but obeyed. "Commander Skywalker, you are being transferred from Rogue Squadron and Starfighter Command to the Alliance Special Forces, as is Lieutenant Jade. You are also being promoted to the rank of Colonel and will be General Solo's XO. Do you have any questions?"

Luke was speechless. He barely managed to say, "No questions. Thank you, sir. It's an honor."

Mara walked over and nudged him with a grin. "I guess it's Colonel Farmboy now, huh?"

They all looked at Luke and several of them said at once, "Colonel Farmboy?"

Luke was blushing madly and half glaring, half smiling at Mara. "Don't ask. It's too long of a story and we have work to do."

Mara winked at them and said, "I'll tell it later. In the meantime, we have a battle to win. I volunteer my ship as the second ground forces transport. It has several ISB ID numbers and I have a fake identicard that labels me a senior ISB agent and a machine that can make other fake Identicards."

Madine cocked an eyebrow. "How does that help us here?"

Luke had already caught on. "Mara can claim to be a lead agent and that the garrison will be inspected. It wouldn't be that farfetched considering it seems they are expecting an attack. Hell, we may be able to walk right in and take it from the inside."

Mara shook her head. "Unfortunately not. My ship doesn't have any Imperial gear on it, remember? Unless the Alliance has gear that can be easily identified as Imperial Security Bureau issued, we won't be able to do that. No we'll just have to go and land in the forest and sneak in with the troops on the shuttle."

General Madine nodded. "Well it seems we have our plan. Generals gather your troops and tell them to prepare. Admiral Ackbar, make sure your ships' captains and commanders are ready to attend as well. I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of questions during this briefing."

General Crix Madine was absolutely correct. The ships' commanding officers were not happy about leading their crews into a trap. The commandos, by contrast, were eager to get into the fight, as were the members of Renegade and Grey squadrons, mostly comprised of mercenaries, bounty hunters, smugglers and other such fringers led by the gruff Col Serra. The commandos and fringers looked at each other with a small amount of distaste but willingly worked together to bring down the Empire despite that. When the briefing was finally over, they were given nine hours to finish preparing before the mission would be set into motion.

Luke and Mara were back aboard her freighter, looking at the arsenal. Mara rubbed her chin and asked casually, "What weapon are you taking with you, Farmboy – besides your lightsaber I mean."

Luke shrugged, "I don't know. I wasn't going to bring another weapon accept maybe a DL-44."

Mara shook her head. "Look I know you're supposed to be a Jedi and all that but having an extra weapon is better than not. What would happen, say, if your saber was damaged or destroyed? Do you think a standard service pistol would be enough?"

Luke thought about it for a moment. Mara definitely had a point. Looking over the blaster rifles, pistols and numerous other weapons, he finally pulled down a blaster rifle with a rounded power cell and a scope. Mara nodded in approval. "Good choice. That's a Wester-5 Assault Blaster Rifle. It's an older model but it has enough range and power to bring down Stormtroopers at quite a distance. I'm gonna take this one."

She pulled down a weapon that Luke was quite familiar with – a Blastech A295 Assault Blaster Rifle. "It has enough power to tare a Stromtrooper in half at close range and has quite a rate of fire too. It's range makes it a good advanced marksman or sniper weapon though not as good as some of the other actual sniper rifles."

Slinging the rifle over her back, Jade also strapped a belt around the poncho she was already wearing and hooked all of her weapons to that one. She also grabbed a helmet from one of the crew quarters. Putting it on, she walked up to Luke. "Alright. I'm ready. You?"

Luke looked her over. With the weapons on her belt, the rifle on her back and the helmet on her head, she looked like a modern version of legendary female warriors he had sometimes heard about as a child on Tatooine who were as deadly as they were beautiful. A blush crept into his face and Mara shook her head before he could answer. "Farmboy, we're going to have a problem working together if your mind goes into the gutter every time you look at me."

Luke spluttered. "It wasn't in the gutter! I was just thinking..." And he clamped his mouth shut tight before quickly saying, "Never mind. I just need to get cleaned up after that workout, grab my own poncho and helmet and then we should probably get some sleep. Han said he would give us a shortened version of his briefing while the rest are loading up in the hanger."

Mara's eyes twinkled and that predatory grin crossed her face. She took off the helmet and held it under her left arm. "You know how this is going to go, Farmboy. I want to know what you were thinking. Now we can do this the easy way and get more sleep or do this the hard way and have a little bit of fun. It's up to you."

Luke's mind went back to the 'interrogation' aboard Mara's Suwantek. It had been fun if a little nerve racking. He turned away and began to walk quickly towards the ramp and a husky chuckle came from behind him. "The hard, fun way it is then."

They reached their quarters not long after and Mara hadn't asked a single question. She had been brushing around the barriers in Luke's mind nonchalantly, just to let him know that she was there. When Luke opened the door to his quarters, he was surprised when she strode in and over to the bed, dropped her helmet, took off her poncho and plopped down on his bed with a contented sigh. Her emerald eyes gleamed wickedly as she yawned and stretched out in her skin-tight synthleather body suit. Skywalker suppressed a groan with difficulty. He decided to attempt to ignore her as he grabbed a black shirt and pants and pulled his helmet and poncho from the closet next to the refresher. Neatly, he set the helmet, folded poncho and borrowed blaster rifle all on his desk-turned work bench. The rest he brought into the refresher with him. Mara watched intently, as if everything he did was the most interesting thing she had ever seen. While he was in the refresher, she gently caressed his mind to remind him that she was still there. After several long minutes, he opened his mind slightly and she heard his voice say, _Why is it so important that you know what I'm thinking?_

Mara chuckled and replied, _I guess it's not really important. I guess I just like watching an innocent, naïve, earnest and noble farm boy like you squirm._

 _I'm not so innocent or noble._ Mara sat up, surprised at the guilt she felt in his thoughts. She sent back to him, _Luke what's wrong? Every now and again, I sense deep feelings of guilt in you and I can't imagine why. What could you have possibly done to feel so guilty?"_

Luke didn't reply. Mara heard the shower turn off and heard Luke moving around inside the refresher. With a frown, Mara stood up, walked over to the door and knocked. "Are you decent, Luke?"

"No, not really." He replied hastily.

"Well wrap a towel around your waste. You've got twenty seconds and then I'm coming in."

Luke tried to object but when Mara reached zero, she hit the door opener. It didn't budge. With an amused snort, she gently pulled the panel off and began to mess with the wires. The door unlocked and she replaced everything the way it had been before she opened the door. Luke stood there, his face and ears red as Darth Vader's lightsaber and had a rough towel wrapped around his narrow waste. He was about to object when she said, "Luke, I'm honestly worried about you. Why do you, of all people, feel so guilty so often?"

Luke looked down. "You've been inside my mind, Mara. Surely you saw why?"

Mara frowned and tried to remember what she had seen. It only took her a moment to remember it. The destruction of the Death Star, which had killed over a million beings, was foremost in his mind. Mara knew that not all of them were military personnel though most of them were. Besides that, she had seen many of his missions with Rogue Squadron: Bombing runs against facilities, missions to save civilians that were either failures or not complete successes or surviving battles when friends of his had died. Names like Biggs Darklighter and Dak Ralter haunted his mind. Mara felt for her friend. She walked quietly up to him and said, "Luke, look at me."

At first, Luke didn't look up, so Mara cupped his chin in her hand and lifted until those dazzling blue eyes looked into hers. "You know as well as I do that everything you did HAD to happen, and that your friends who died knew what they would be dying for. Do you think that your friends would want you to feel all this weight on your shoulders, distracting you from missions? I know who Biggs Darklighter was. He was one hell of a TIE Pilot and he defected. If his personality profile is anything to go by, he would kick your butt if he were still around, wouldn't he?"

Luke remembered his oldest friend fondly. She was right, Biggs would have given him a tongue lashing if he were still around. The guilt was still there, though. Luke simply couldn't let it go. "You have to, Luke." said Mara quietly. "If you don't let go of the guilt, it will consume you. It will lead to hesitation in the future and then to failure and we cannot afford to fail. Worse, it could lead to overwhelming fear and where would fear lead?"

He was still silent and she whispered, "It's a lesson I learned early in my career - probably a little too well. You have to let it go, Luke. Don't forget it, but don't let it hold you anymore."

Luke looked down into her dazzling emerald eyes. They reminded him of his lightsaber blade. With a sigh, Luke gave a smile and said, "Thanks, Mara. I'll try to let it go."

Mara smiled and patted his cheek. "This isn't something you can try, Luke. It's something you have to do or not do."

Luke chuckled at that and quoted, "'Try not. Do or do not. There is not try'"

Mara nodded. "Master Yoda said that, didn't he?"

Luke chuckled again and then firmly said, "No more guilt."

Mara's smile made his heart skip a beat. She hugged him fondly and then said, "There is only one more matter and then we can get some sleep?"

Luke pulled away from her slightly and cocked an eyebrow questioningly. Mara rested her chin on his shoulder and asked, "What were you thinking on the Suwantek after I made that comment about your mind being in the gutter?"

Luke laughed. She still wanted to play their little game. Carefully, he separated himself and said, "I need to get dressed, Mara. Then we need to get some sleep."

Mara smirked mischievously. "Don't let me stop you, Farmboy."

Luke blushed and said, "Oh no. That's not going to happen. Out, out, OUT!"

He gently but firmly pushed her out of the refresher and shut the door behind her. Mara contemplated just slicing the door again but instead decided to sit in his arm chair and wait for him to come out. When he came out and saw her sitting there, Luke sighed. While he did like playing this game with Mara, they both needed their sleep so he took a deep breath and said, "I was thinking that, dressed in the helmet and poncho and with that blaster rifle across your back, you reminded me of the stories I heard my aunt tell me on Tatooine. Some of them were about galactic societies where beautiful female warriors ruled. That's it."

Mara cocked a dark brow. She was slightly disappointed that he gave in so easily. "Oh and how did I remind you of that?"

Luke blushed even darker and his mouth went dry. Looking her squarely in the eyes, he said, "Because you're beautiful, Mara."

To both Luke's and Mara's surprise, she blushed and looked away. Luke gave a chuckle but Mara, embarrassed even more so that she was embarrassed, scowled but she couldn't think of anything to say. Finally, as Luke walked over to his gear to check it one more time, she muttered with as much good grace as she could muster. "Well... thanks."

Luke smiled at her before looking back at his gear. Mara felt ridiculous. Luke wasn't the first man in the galaxy to tell her she was beautiful. Hell! Lando Callrissian in his mercenary disguise had called her beautiful and it hadn't affected her this way. Why was it different when the farm boy did?

Filing the question away for a later date, Mara stood and stretched. "Well I think I am going to go get some sleep while I can. Wake me two hours before departure, would you Farmboy?"

Luke nodded as he stepped over and sat on the bed. Mara smiled and turned to leave. Suddenly, she felt an all-too familiar presence trying to get into her mind. Immediately, she hardened all of her defenses to anything in the universe except one person. "Luke help!" She gritted out as Emperor Palpatine's mind dug at her mental armor. Suddenly, Luke's mind was there, hammering at the Emperor's presence with all of his might. Together they struggled against Palpatine. Just before he receded again, the Emperor said, _You fools! We will meet soon enough and when we do, you will either serve me or die._

Mara and Luke were both gasping for breath and staring at each other. Luke cleared his throat and asked, "Do you want to stay here until we leave? You can take the bed and I'll take the arm chair."

Mara shook her head. "That's not fair. I'm not kicking you out of your own bed, Farmboy."

Luke persisted. "Hey I got a lot more sleep than you did on the way here and I can sleep just about anywhere. Really, it's no problem."

Mara thought about it. She wanted to be close enough that if she needed his help, she could just ask for it. Finally, she nodded and plopped down on the bed. Luke went over and settled in the arm chair. He already had his eyes closed when Mara looked up and, still feeling a little mischievous, couldn't help but ask, "Hey Farmboy, what were you looking at earlier before we went down to spar?"

Luke gave a sleepy chuckle. "Go to sleep, Mara. You know exactly what I was looking at and why I was looking there."

"No I don't. Please, enlighten me."

Luke didn't respond. He just sat there. Mara chuckled sleepily herself and lay back on the pillow. She would get him later.

Both of them dreamed strange dreams as they slept. Luke dreamed that he was at Jabba's palace again and Mara was dancing in the very revealing suit she had been wearing there but, instead of lying in wait to kill him, she was dancing for his enjoyment, a beautiful smile on her red lips. Suddenly, Darth Vader and a black cloaked figure that Luke knew was the Emperor strode in. Mara and Luke both drew their weapons, ready to fight when the scene suddenly changed. Mara and Luke were kneeling and facing each other, gasping for breath and wracked with pain. Mara was trying to tell Luke something but he couldn't understand what it was. In the background was an evil cackle and the crackling sound of electricity. That repeated over and over in Luke's mind like a broken holo-recording.

Mara's dreams were equally strange. She dreamed that she and Skywalker were sparring again, with lightsabers and without. They were laughing together, enjoying themselves immensely as if there was no more war to worry them and they only did it for the joy of it and to spend more time together. Suddenly, the sky grew dark and lightning flashed from overhead. At the edge of the storm, walking toward them was Mara's old master, the Emperor. When he reached them, he smiled evilly. Without warning, the scene changed. Luke and Mara were kneeling down, facing one another. Both of them were gasping for breath and both of them were filled with a burning pain that Mara recognized: force lightning. She looked at Luke and felt like she had to tell him something, some vital piece of information but she couldn't remember it. Again and again, that scene played in her mind.

Luke's krono went off and they both woke with a start, sweating and confused. Mara looked at Luke and he looked back at her. They both knew that they had both had dreams that had disturbed their sleep. Yet they woke feeling refreshed and ready for the battle to come. Luke jumped up and stretched and Mara rushed over to her room. Luke put the poncho over his head and clipped his lightsaber to his belt and slung the blaster rifle over his shoulder. He put the helmet under one arm and went over to Mara's quarters. Instead of a poncho like his, Mara wore a long camouflage coat that reminded Luke of a cloak or perhaps a rain coat. Mara had just slung her rifle and grabbed her helmet. "Ready to go, Colonel?"

Luke blushed slightly and grinned at the title. "Let's go, Lieutenant."

Han Solo was talking to Lando Callrissian in the hanger when they walked up. Lando and Han saw them and shook hands before Solo turned to them. "You two get some sleep?"

They both stood rigidly at attention and replied with gusto, "Sir, yes Sir."

Han scowled and said, "Cut that out, you two. Look here is the plan: you two are going aboard Jade's Suwantek as a ISB team to inspect the garrison and defenses of the shield generator. We will be going down as a team of technicians with parts for the garrison. We will land as close together as possible but, in the event that we are forced to land a distance apart, we will use encoded transmissions that will be sent between R2-D2, who is coming with us on the shuttle and R3-L9 who will be with you on the freighter. After we meet up, it's on to the shield generator. Now we all know it won't be that simple but that's the plan. Any questions?"

"Sir, no sir."

"You two are going to be trouble aren't you? Alright, dismissed. Go get your freighter ready. The troops assigned there are already on board with orders to sit in the training room and not touch anything."

Mara and Luke saluted and hurried to the Suwantek, chuckling at Solo's reaction to them. Inside the freighter, a dozen and a half unsavory looking individuals lounged around the training room. Most of them were humans but there was also a couple sullustans, a Mon Calamari, a Rodian and two bothans. One of the humans, a female, strode up to them and said, "Colonel Skywalker, Lieutenant Jade, names Shara. I'm the one who was put in charge of this crew under you two."

Luke nodded and shook her hand. "Sounds good. You'll be the co-pilot but do not touch anything unless instructed to by Lieutenant Jade."

Mara and Shara went up front with R3-L9, who had already been sent aboard. Luke turned to the rest of them. "Listen up, when we get to the surface, our first priority will be to meet up with the shuttle crew so no wandering off on your own, no doing your own thing. You may not like it, but this is an Alliance Military operation so you WILL abide by military regulation. Is that clear?"

There was some grumbling but all of them gave an affirmative. Luke nodded. "Good. We should all get along just fine then."

Luke turned on his heel and headed up front where Mara and Shara were chatting amiably and finishing up the pre-flight checks. "Almost ready, Mara?"

Mara smiled at him, "Taking off as soon as Solo does. He just sent a transmission from R2. We are to wait fifteen minutes to jump after the shuttle has. That way, we won't be arriving at the same time."

Luke nodded. "Makes sense."

They took off and headed out into space. The shuttle zipped into hyperspace and Luke marked the time on his krono. While they waited, Shara looked up at him, "So Colonel, I hear your supposed to be a Jedi Knight. That true?"

Luke looked down at her. "I am, yes. Why do you ask?"

Shara shrugged, "I just heard a lot about them when I was little. They were supposed to be super powerful beings yet by the time I reached adult hood, they're either dead or serving old Palpy. I guess I was just curious."

They spent the rest of the time in silence until Luke's krono told him it was time. "Make the jump, Lieutenant. We're going to Endor."

The star field before them turned to lines and then into the brilliant blue tunnel of hyperspace.

 **Updated May 24, 2015**


	7. Chapter 7: The Insertion

Luke Skywalker gazed out the front viewport of Mara Jade's Suwantek TL-1800 Light freighter. In the seats just in front of him sat Mara Jade and Shara, the Lieutenant in charge of the eighteen commandos that were in the ships hold. All three of them stared at the massive station that orbited the moon in the distance. This new Death Star was even bigger than the first if the handful of Imperial Star Destroyers and the mammoth Executer-Class Star Dreadnaught were anything to judge by. Unable to think of anything else to say, Luke shook his head and uttered a low whistle. Mara Jade nodded and said, "Uh-huh."

Shara, a bounty hunter-turned officer in Grey Squadron, one of the Alliances elite fighting units, asked, "Is everything ready? They'll probably hale us any moment now."

Luke and Mara nodded and the latter said, "We are. Get ready. You'll love this performance."

They had only a few moments to wait. The comms unit buzzed and the voice of a young man filled the cockpit. "Unidentified freighter, this is the Imperial Star Dreadnaught _Executer._ Transmit your ID signature and clearance code immediately or prepare to be taken."

Mara gave a grin and a wink towards her companions before her entire demeanor changed. From a gleeful, almost cocky young rebel to a very serious, almost board agent. In an arrogant, dead-pan voice, she replied to the comms officer, "This is Senior ISB Agent Selena Grole and the freighter _Ouster –_ transmitting clearance code and ID signature now, _Executer."_

They sat in silence for several minutes before Shara looked over at Mara. "Do they usually take this long to get back to someone?"

Mara shrugged. "There could be several reasons for them to take a while: laziness, a power trip, trying to find our ship in system..."

She was interrupted by comms unit. "Freighter _Ouster,_ what is your mission to the forest moon below?"

Mara allowed a cold edge to enter her voice. "My mission is official Imperial Security Bureau business and above the paygrade of a simple comms officer but since I am feeling gracious, I'll tell you that we will be inspecting the garrison below per Colonel Yularen's orders. He apparently thinks that now is the perfect time for it since there are so many troops on the ground."

Several more minutes went by again and Luke and Shara looked at Mara. She raised her eyebrows and hands in a 'what am I supposed to do' motion just before the comms beeped once again. "Freighter _Ouster,_ this is the Executer, you have been cleared to proceed."

Mara stifled a sigh of relief and replied to the comms officer, "Of course. _Ouster_ out," before cutting the transmission. She grinned at her two companions and asked, "Well, how did I do? Do you think that was Imperial Center Theater worthy?"

Luke applauded with a chuckle and Shara even gave a smile. They glanced over the instruments and Shara said, "We will be landing in just over an hour, I believe. With your permission, Colonel Skywalker, I'll head to the back and tell the troops. Anything special you want me to tell them?"

Luke nodded, "Go ahead. Just tell them that I don't want heroics or foolhardiness from any of them. When we land, we stick together and immediately go and rendezvous with General Solo. That's it."

Shara smiled at him. "These are mercenaries and bounty hunters, Colonel. I double you'll have to worry about heroics."

Luke sat in the co-pilot's seat as soon as she was gone. Mara grinned at him. "She's right, you know. I doubt you'll have to worry about 'heroics' from them. I mean, they aren't exactly the most heroic type."

Luke shrugged. "I don't know. Han was a fringer and he has pulled off some heroic stuff."

"Must be your influence, Farmboy, turning everyone around you into noble galactic heroes. Hell, look what you did to me."

Mara motioned to herself in mock dismay. "You turned a loyal, trusted agent of the Emperor into a rebel officer and commando."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I had very little to do with it. It was Yoda's discussion with you and the good that was already there that caused you to make the right choice. What could I possibly have to do with any of that?"

Suddenly serious, Mara sat up straight and looked at him. "For starters, you believed in me, Luke. You trusted me even though immediately before, I was a fanatic trying to kill you. Not only that, you saw into my mind and my soul and you accepted what you saw – the good, the bad and the ugly – without judgement or condition. Finally, you paved the way for me to join the Alliance, to be able to help right everything that is wrong in the galaxy. I know it may not feel like you did a lot but from where I'm standing, you made all the difference in the galaxy."

Luke was slightly taken aback by what she said. Her intense emerald eyes were still gazing at him as he looked away. When put like that, it seemed like he was the only reason she was here, but that wasn't true. Mara Jade was here because she had done the right thing. Luke was about to say just that when he felt a dark presence brush his mind. At first, he thought it was the Emperor but it felt different – familiar. Looking towards the bridge of the massive Star Dreadnaught _Executer,_ Luke realized what had just happened. "Vader's on that ship." He murmured quietly. Mara knew what he meant. "The _Executer_ is Vader's personal command ship; it makes sense that he would be on board. Everything okay, Farmboy?"

Luke shook his head, suddenly feeling as though he was a hunted creature who had just been found. "I'm endangering the mission. I shouldn't have come."

Mara reached over and prodded his shoulder and said, "Hey, snap out of it, Farmboy. Keep talking and looking like that and you'll start making me nervous. Keep your chin up. They haven't started firing yet and they won't unless we give them a reason to."

Luke took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right of course. What would I do without you, Mara?"

She grinned wickedly, "Well your life wouldn't be as interesting, that's for sure. Buck up. We can't have you going all emotional and broody before the mission even starts or else we'll never get anywhere."

Luke laughed. She was right.

The freighter had to put down about a third of a kilometer away from General Solo's shuttle. It took all of ten minutes for them to link up. As soon as the commando teams were together, Han began giving orders. "I want two columns fifty meters apart. Maintain comms silence and have the astro units send comms – they can probably scramble and bounce them enough to make is seem like the transmissions are coming from Correllia and going to Chandrilla. Keep up your visual scanning and if you see anything in white, signal and don't just shoot them."

He gave a particularly hard look at the members of Luke's unit. They all muttered their assent and Han seemed satisfied. "Alright, let's move out."

Luke, Shara and Mara headed fifty meters east of Han and they began to move in the direction of the shield generator. Having R3-L9, Mara's black, red and silver astromech droid along, made things go a little more slowly but every fifteen minutes, R2-D2 sent R3 an update and she transmitted it to Mara who passed it on to Luke. Suddenly, Mara tapped Luke's shoulder and motion him down. They both knelt and the soldiers behind them followed their example. Mara whispered, "General Solo said that they just sighted some Scout Troopers with speeder bikes and that we should keep our eyes open."

Luke nodded. "What can you tell me about biker scout patrols on worlds like this?" He asked. Mara cocked her head to one side and thought back to her training. "They go in groups of pairs at intervals from fifty meters to a hundred meters. On a moon like this, I would guess fifty so it's quite likely that we will run smack into a couple if we're not careful."

Luke nodded. Looking back through the line, he motion to two of his soldiers – a pair of bothans. They moved to him and he whispered, "I heard you two carry advanced stealth field generators, right? How good are they?"

One of them, a black, gray and brown furred female, replied, "Good enough. As long as we don't move fast, we'll be able to sneak up. They even have sound dampeners so that they won't hear us breathing or if we step on something."

Luke nodded, a satisfied smile on his face. "Go fifty meters east and then head another fifty meters south. Right behind you will be a sniper team. If you see anyone, meet with the snipers, take out the scouts as quietly as possible and come back here. If not, wait for R3's signal – she'll send it to your commlinks."

They nodded and moved off. Luke turned to a pair of humans, a male with a pair of macrobinoculars and a female with an E-17d sniper rifle and motioned them forward. "You two will be following the bothans. They will be going fifty meters east and another fifty south. Be sure you stay at least twenty-five meters away from them. You'll be able to follow their footprints and see the trees and foliage behind them shimmer if you pay close attention."

They saluted and headed out after the bothans, who had already seemed to disappear. Luke turned to Mara and whispered, "You and I are going to slip forward as carefully and quietly as possible to see if there are any scouts ahead of us."

Mara nodded and said, "I'll take point. Watch your step and try not to be too loud."

Shara whispered, "What should we do, Colonel?"

"Wait here. We'll send you a signal through R3 as soon as it's clear. Under no circumstances come after us unless I give the word."

Shara looked skeptical but nodded. Mara and Luke slipped forward silently. Mara was impressed as Luke managed to avoid twigs, dry leaves and other debris that would make noise if trodden on. They made it thirty meters before seeing them – two speeder bikes with scout troopers standing watch near them. Mara unslung and shouldered her blaster rifle but Luke lifted one finger. In her mind, Mara heard his voice. _We need to do this quietly. We should get close and use our lightsabers. That blaster is going to alert every other Imperial within a kilometer radius._

Mara was hesitant. It would be hard to sneak up on them since they were practically looking directly at her and Luke. Suddenly, blaster shots rang out from the west and Luke and Mara looked at each other. Mara hissed, "Damn! That will be Han's group. We need to take them now!"

They lifted their blaster rifles, aimed and fired. Mara's shot hit its target, burning a hole straight through the scout's chest plate. Luke missed as the other scout ducked out of pure reflex, seeing his fellow die. The scout leaped on his bike and took off. Cursing, Mara and Luke leaped onto the other bike. "I'm driving, you shoot!" said Luke.

Mara didn't argue; she slung her rifle, drew her blaster pistol and wrapped her left arm around Luke's waist for stability. Luke whipped off after the scout. Almost immediately, they saw one of Han's commandos chasing after another pair of scouts. "Oh kriff! This is a mess. Stang, Skywalker! Keep it study!" yelled Mara.

Luke snapped back to her, "I don't need a back-seat driver. Just get ready to take that scout."

"Why don't you use the swivel blaster?"

"It's not meant for a speeder bike chase. We can't afford to waste time trying to line up a shot. I'll try to pull beside him."

Mara gritted her teeth. Luke was right, trying to shoot a speeder bike from another speeder bike would waste time. Slowly, they gained on the biker scout until they had pulled beside it. Just as they did, laser bolts whipped by them from behind. More scouts. Mara lifted her pistol and fired at near point blank range before nimbly jumping on the now vacated speeder just in time to avoid smashing into a large tree. In his mind, Luke heard her. _When I say now, drop behind them. I'll keep them on me._

Luke sent an acknowledgement and waited. When it came, he slammed the breaks and dropped almost directly behind them. Immediately, one of them broke off. _One broke off, Mara. I'll follow him. You take the other. Call if you need help._

He pulled up beside the biker scout and slammed into it from the side. The scout trooper looked at him and slammed back. Suddenly, their bikes wouldn't separate! The front fin arrays were stuck together somehow. Looking ahead, Luke saw that they were fast approaching a tree. Thinking fast, he leapt off the bike, rolled when he hit the ground and stood. Just as he did his speeder bike separated from the scout trooper's and slammed into the tree. Luke cursed. _Mara, my guy is getting away. He's heading – wait… oh kriff. Never mind, he's coming back._

Luke sensed her alarm in the force but pushed it aside as he drew his lightsaber. The biker scout zeroed in on him, firing his cannon. Luke deflected every shot that got to close and, just as the speeder bike was about to hit him, stepped to the side and swung down with his lightsaber, cutting off the entire front array. With no small amount of satisfaction, Luke watched as the speeder bike spun off and into another tree. Just then, Mara pulled up, a smirk on her lovely face that made Luke smile. "What's a farm boy like you doing in the big, bad forest?" she teased him. Luke chuckled and motioned towards one of the burning trees. "That's my ride over there. Any chance I can talk you into giving me a ride back to the strike team?"

Mara cocked her head as if thinking about it. "Yeah, I can do that, but you owe me dinner, Farmboy."

Luke jogged over and hopped in behind her, chuckling as he went. "Fair enough, Mara – besides, I'd hate for you to have to live off ration bars or Alliance cooked food or, worst of all, your OWN cooking."

As she peeled off, she sent a falsely indignant thought. _Hey, I never said that I wasn't a good cook. I just don't cook often._

Luke laughed but didn't reply. It wasn't too long before they got back to the strike team. Han had brought his commando in with the Renegades and they had set up an extensive perimeter while waiting for Luke and Mara to return. When Han saw them, his face lit up with relief. "Luke! Red! Have either of you seen Leia?"

Luke and Mara hopped off the bike and Luke asked, "Wait, where did Leia go?"

Han sighed in exasperation and said, "She went chasing off after a couple biker scouts all on her own. I swear, that woman is crazier than a bag of nexus."

Luke looked at Mara who said, "We saw her heading east. We can go take a look that way."

Solo nodded. Quickly, he turned to the commandos. "Page, you're in charge till we get back. Take everyone and move on ahead. We'll meet you at the shield generator. Luke, Red, Chewie, R2 and 3PO – you're all with me. R3, stay with Page. Let's go take a look."

They searched for quite a while and even Mara began to get anxious. She didn't have a problem with the princess but she didn't know Leia as well as Han and Luke did. Finally, they found another couple wrecked scout bikes and a single helmet used by Alliance ground forces. Han looked very worried. "I hope she's alright."

Mara began looking for signs. While tracking in the forest wasn't one of her strongest skills, she still remembered the basics of it. Looking over by a log, she saw several scorch marks and also a couple of tracks. "I have two booted footprints and also some really soft bare footprints that definitely are not human. They are too small and too round."

Han and Luke ran over to her. Luke knelt beside her and Han anxiously asked, "Can you follow the tracks?"

Mara shrugged unenthusiastically. "I can try. Hey, Chewbacca, you can track in the woods. What do you think of these?"

The big wookie began moving towards them but stopped suddenly, his nostrils twitching and flaring. He gave a grunt and began heading off. Solo called after her, "What, Chewie? Hey, what is it Chewie?"

The wookie lead them a distance to a sapling with a chunk of bloody meat still tied to it. Mara didn't like it. The way it was strung up reminded her of something. "I don't get it. It's just a dead animal, Chewie." Said Solo.

Suddenly, two things happened at once. First, Luke ran forward yelling, "Chewie wait! WAIT! NO!" and Mara realized why she didn't like it; it was a primitive trap. Mara jumped backwards and tumbled to the ground while a massive woven net caught up the rest of them. After the shock of the situation wore off, Han started snapping at the wookie. Mara, looking up at her companions, trussed up like a prize catch of fish, couldn't contain herself. She started to laugh. She was laughing so hard that she couldn't even get to her feet. Han snapped down to her. "I'm so glad you're amused, Jade. Now can you please find a way to get us down."

Mara just shook her head, still laughing but trying to answer. "I'm… I'm sorry, Solo. You all just look so ridiculous." But that's all she could manage before breaking down into another fit of laughter. Luke was even starting to get a little miffed with her. Finally, she pulled herself to her feet and un-clipped her lightsaber. Before she had the chance to do anything, a low buzzing was heard and, within seconds, the net parted and they fell to the ground. Mara's laughter redoubled as they all groaned and winced. She reached down to Luke to help him up when she noticed them. "Luke…"

They were tiny, less than a meter tall, covered in fur and very primitively armed. Whatever they were, they didn't speak basic. "Hey! Point that thing somewhere else."

Mara watched as, apparently for a second time, one of the little creatures shoved a spear into Solo's face. "Hey!" he snarled and pulled out a blaster. Luke grabbed Solo's blaster hand. Mara herself was about to draw her blaster and lightsaber. "Han don't. It will be alright. Mara, don't do it. Everything will be okay. Let them take your weapons. It'll be okay."

Mara didn't like it. She was contemplating not listening to him when she felt Luke's consciousness caressing her own. _Easy, Mara. It'll be okay. I sense no danger from these creatures so long as we be careful. It wouldn't be right to slaughter these beings if we can find an alternative._

Mara glared at him and replied, _You'd better be right about this, Skywalker. If we wind up having to fight our way out of captivity, I'm going to slug you for every time I was poked or prodded._

Suddenly, C-3PO sat up and said, "Oh, my head!"

The attitude of the little creatures changed completely. They all exclaimed in their high pitch voices and immediately began to bow and chant towards C-3PO. None of them understood what was going on. The gold droid began to utter something in the chattering language of the little furry things. Luke finally asked, "Do you understand what they are saying?"

"Yes, Master Luke. Remember that I am fluent in over six million forms…"

"What are you telling them?" interrupted Solo. The droid paused and said, "Hello I think. I'm not sure, they are using a very primitive dialect but I believe they think I am some form of god."

Luke started to quietly chuckle and Mara had to bite her tongue to avoid laughing herself. Solo was getting just plain mad. "Well why don't you use your divine influence and get us out of this." He said sarcastically. 3PO replied rather sternly, "I beg your pardon, General Solo but that wouldn't be proper."

Incredulous, Solo repeated, "PROPER?"

3PO explained with what would have been an arrogant sniff if he was a living being, "It's against my programming to impersonate a deity."

That seemed to push Solo's already fraying temper to breaking. "WHY YOU…" and he lunged at the golden droid. In an instant, he had a half dozen stone spears shoved in his face. Immediately, he calmed and put his hands up placatingly. "My mistake. He's an old friend of mine." Han mumbled lamely.

Within minutes, the men and the wookie were tied by the hands and feet to poles and they were carried hanging from the poles and Mara was forced to walk in front of a chair. On the chair sat 3PO, carried by the little creatures. R2 was hauled on a rickshaw. When they were all restrained, the natives lead them away.

It was dark before they all reached the little creature's homes. According to C-3PO, the easiest way to say their names in basic was to call them ewoks. The ewoks lived in a large village of tree houses and the captured rebels were taken to what appeared to be a main tribal hall. 3PO was set up at the head of the room while Han was placed over a shallow pit. Chewie, Luke, and R2 were all set off to the side of the room. The ewoks tried to hustle Mara off but she wasn't having any of it. "HEY 3PO, what are they going to do with us?"

The golden droid put in a query and as he was doing so, a familiar figure came into the hall: Princess Leia Organa. The rebels saw her and felt weights like boulders lifted from their shoulders. "Your Royal Highness!" cried 3PO.

Leia looked at the ewoks and pleaded. "But these are my friends. 3PO, tell them they must be set free."

Mara was next to Leia now and couldn't help but smirk slightly. "Hey, Princess. Where'd the new clothes come from? Did they make it for you themselves or did you have it in your survival kit?"

Leia looked sternly at her. "Is this really the time for jokes, Lieutenant? Besides, you'll be getting one too and this one was the most conservative they had by a long shot."

Mara couldn't help but laugh. Han, hung upside over a pit, looked at 3PO and asked, "What did he say?" referring to one of the furry little creatures. The gold droid replied, "I'm rather embarrassed, General Solo but it appears you are to be the main course in a banquet in my honor."

The ewoks were stacking wood beneath him and Mara lost it again. She had to sit down and tears were rolling down her cheeks as she laughed harder and harder. Luke looked at the gold droid and asked, "What about the rest of us?"

"Well the princess and Lieutenant Jade are apparently my consorts. According to the fellow with the skull on his head, I need as many of the comforts of life as possible in order to remain appeased. He's a priest or shaman of some nature."

This time, it was Luke's turn to laugh. Chewie gruff chuckles filled the air too as Mara jumped up with an indignant and disbelieving "WHAT?"

When Luke had gained control of his mirth, he looked back at his faithful gold droid and said, "3PO, tell them that if they don't let us go, you will become angry and use your magic."

3PO tried to protest but Luke firmly commanded, "Just tell them."

The protocol droid uttered a stream of chattering speech, punctuating it with a great exclamation, causing all the ewoks to squeak in alarm and pause for a moment. The white ewok with the skull on his head began to chatter and wave again and the ewoks went back to work. A torch was brought forward and flames put to the stacked wood. "You see, Master Luke, they didn't listen to me, just as I said they wouldn't…"

Mara watched as Luke closed his eyes and laid back. She smiled as the droid and his wooden throne rose into the air. 3PO was protesting and calling for help the entire time as he floated several meters of the ground. Quickly, the fire was tamped down and Luke and Han were both set free, as was R2. Immediately, Mara ran to Luke, laughing and saying, "That was great!"

Luke winked at her. "I told you everything would be okay."

Mara swatted at him lightly before giving him a hug. Leia and Han were kissing in the center of the room before Leia came over and hugged Luke. The farm boy looked at the golden droid and said, "Thanks, 3PO."

"I – I didn't know I had it in me."

Mara reached out with the force and pulled hers and Luke's lightsaber to her hands, handing Luke's to him. "Thanks." He said. She winked at him and said, "So what now, Farmboy?"

Luke pointed at Han. "Ask the general. I'm just the XO of this little operation."

Han was having a quick council with Leia and C-3PO for a few minutes before the golden droid began talking somewhat sternly to the ewok chief and the white, skull wearing shaman. The funny little creatures began to gather seats and furs and all the elders of the people gathered around the gold droid. Luke and Mara took a couple fur covered stumps and sat in a corner together. 3PO stood and began what they assumed was a long tail about the Rebel Alliance and their fight against the Empire. Mara leaned over and whispered, "Look at your sister and Solo. Don't they look awfully cozy?"

Luke had been watching. He envied them that they had one another. Suppressing a sigh and checking his mental shielding, he couldn't help but realize that it was a good thing that he was alone in that regard. During the walk from the site where they were trapped and the ewok village, Luke had sensed Darth Vader. The Dark Lord had landed on the moon and was waiting for him. Luke knew that it was his destiny to face the Lord of the Sith and he knew that there was every chance that his life would end in that confrontation. Mara gave him a nudge and cocked a dark eyebrow. Luke looked at her and sighed. She was so beautiful. "I'm okay. Don't worry about me, Mara."

Mara frowned slightly but Luke seemed to miss it in the low light of the ewok's fire. Suddenly, drums were being played and the ewok chieftain was speaking. After a couple moments of chatter, C-3PO exclaimed, "Wonderful! We are now part of the tribe."

The little ewoks mobbed each of them, hugging them enthusiastically. Mara heard Solo mutter, "That's what I always wanted." And couldn't help but chuckle. A ball of fur wrapped it's short arms around her and hugged. Mara laughed and couldn't help but hug back. The little creature was like a little stuffed animal. She turned to Luke and saw that he had ducked out one of the entrances. Looking around, she noticed Leia slip out as well. Caught momentarily between allowing them to have some privacy and being worried about Luke's suddenly melancholy mood, she chewed her lower lip. Finally, she hid herself in the force and slipped out another door, sneaking around to hear the siblings' conversation. Luke was quietly asking Leia a question. "Leia, do you remember your mother – your REAL mother?"

Leia gave a tiny smile and leaned against the railing next to him. "Just a little bit; She died when I was very young."

"What do you remember?"

Leia pursed her lips. "Just images really – feelings."

Luke persisted. "Tell me." Leia looked down for a moment as if to remember. "She was very beautiful and kind but sad." She paused for a moment before asking, "Why are you asking me this?"

Luke had a very distant look in his blue eyes as he replied soberly, "I have no memory of my mother. I never knew her."

Leia looked very concerned and she said, "Luke, tell me, what's troubling you?"

After another short pause, Luke said, "Vader is here, now, on this moon."

Leia looked skeptical but Mara had to concentrate to keep the force around her as a concealing cloak. _Darth Vader! No!_ Fear filled her and it was all she could do to remain hidden from Luke's keen senses.

"I felt his presence. He's come for me. He can feel when I'm near. That's why I have to go." Replied Luke with absolute calmness and Mara absolutely agreed. They all had to go. They had to get the generator blown and then get the hell off this wood-covered rock.

"As long as I stay, I'm endangering the group and our mission here. I have to face him."

Leia recoiled slightly. "Why?" she all but whispered. Luke hesitated for several moments and Mara knew what was coming. _Oh Farmboy, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, telling her like this._

Finally, Luke told her, "He's my father."

Leia recoiled even more, a look of shock and even horror on her face. "Your father?"

Luke continued, ignoring her expression. "There's more and it won't be easy for you to hear, but you must. If I don't make it back, you're the only hope for the Alliance."

Leia had recovered slightly and said, "Luke, don't talk that way. You have a power I don't understand and could never have."

Luke shook his head slowly. "You're wrong, Leia. In time, you'll learn to use it as I have. The force is strong in my family. My father has it, I have it and…"

Mara held her breath. This could end badly for the poor farm boy if the princess didn't take it well. "…my sister has it."

Leia facial expression changed as if something had just come to her, something she knew all along but it just now truly dawned on her. Luke nodded. "Yes. It's you, Leia."

Her face didn't change as she said, "I know – somehow. I've always know."

Luke surged forward. "Then you know why I have to face him."

Leia leaped up and exclaimed. "NO! Luke, run away – FAR away. If Vader can sense your presents then leave this place. I wish I could go with you."

Luke stood too. "No you don't. You've always been strong."

Mara could sense the siblings' emotions - Luke's relief that Leia had accepted the two proton bombs that he had dropped on her and Leia's fearfulness. The princess's voice broke as she pleaded, "But WHY must you confront him?"

Luke grasped her shoulder gently and said, "Because there is still good in him. I felt it. He won't turn me over to the emperor. I can save him. I can turn him back to the good side. I have to try."

His voice was filled with emotion and the earnestness and compassion in his voice caused Mara's heart to ache for the pour, naïve farm boy. There was no good in that monster. Luke was seeing and feeling what he desperately wanted to see and feel. There was no way in all the hells of Correllia or any other force-forsaken world that she was letting him go; Luke leaned in and kissed his sister on her cheek before heading off into the village. Mara took off in a path parallel to him. After a few minutes, she intercepted him. "Just where do you think you're off to, Luke?"

Luke whipped around. Mara's voice had been gentle enough but the scowl on her face told him that he was in for one hell of an argument. He sighed and said, "I assume you heard every word between me and Leia, then."

Mara crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes I did."

Neither of them said anything until Mara couldn't take it anymore. "Damn it, Luke! You're putting this entire operation at risk by leaving. You know that we need your help here! Instead you're chasing dreams and delusions of saving a monster! Do you have any idea what Vader has done?"

Luke didn't reply, which only seemed to make her angrier. "He slaughtered the Jedi Knights, killed MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of beings and now he's going to take you to the emperor where you will have two choices: join them as another puppet of the dark side or die. Damn it, Luke, the Emperor will probably FORCE you to fight Vader anyway so that he can see who would make a better Sith apprentice. Don't you understand? THAT is what you are walking into!"

Luke straightened and said, "I have to do this. I have to try and save him." "HE CAN'T BE SAVED!"

Luke finally lost his cool, "Then I have to kill them, both of them – not out of hate or anger but for justice. It's my destiny."

Mara sneered at him. "Your destiny! You make your own destiny, Skywalker, just like I did."

Luke didn't reply to that, he simply stiffened his jaw. "Mara, I'm going. I'm surrendering to Vader. Please don't try to stop me."

She just glared at him. After a few minutes of silence, she sighed and leaned against one of the village support columns. "Damn it, Farmboy." She whispered, her eyes glistening with tears. "I only just got to know you and now you're going to die."

Luke smiled gently and walked up to her. Gently, he took her in his strong arms and whispered. "I'm not dead yet, Mara. Don't call the end too early. The future is always in motion, you know."

Mara leaned her head against the side of his neck and sniffed slightly before pulling her head back and looking into his sky blue eyes. "I'm coming with you."

Luke's face went slightly pale and he recoiled. "NO!"

Mara held on tight to him. "Luke, I am going with you. IF you insist on this then so do I."

"Mara…" Luke groaned but she interrupted. "Don't you 'Mara' me, Luke Skywalker. You can't just drop into my life, turn it upside-down and then drop out of it again. I won't let you. If you are going, then I'm going too."

Gazing into the dazzling emerald eyes, Luke sighed in defeat. He'd be better off trying to convince Chewbacca to shave his fur than convince her to stay behind. Even so, he couldn't help one last argument. "I may possibly make it out, but Mara, they will kill you – possibly as soon as they see you."

Mara shook her head. "The emperor will want to see to my execution personally. He told me so himself when I last talked to him."

"Oh that's comforting." Growled Luke. Mara smiled and place a hand on his face. "Let's get this over with, Farmboy. Daddy may decide to leave without you."

That brought a small smile to Luke's face and they headed off into the forest. They didn't talk much, verbally or mentally as they went and it was only a couple of hours before they came to a patrol of Scout Troopers. They had only brought their lightsabers and Mara's sleeve holstered blaster, all of which were quickly confiscated and binders were slapped on their wrists. The biker scouts lead them back to a patrolling AT-AT and used a repulser lift to bring them aboard. Inside were a dozen Stormtroopers and a uniformed Imperial Officer who demanded, "What are your names and where is the strike team you came with?"

Luke shrugged, "We were alone. I'm Luke Skywalker. I demand to see Darth Vader."

The officer's eyes widened. No one EVER demanded to see Darth Vader. After a moment he sneered, "Well you're in luck, Rebel. He's at the landing pad as we speak."

The officer turned to Jade and said, "And what is your name, Rebel?"

Mara lifted her chin proudly and said, "I am Mara Jade."

The officer took mental note and said, "You will both be taken to the garrison where you will see Lord Vader."

The officer then went up front. Luke and Mara looked at each other without speaking. Luke tried to reach her mind but she mentally told him, _not now, Farmboy. I need to be alone with my thoughts for a while._

Luke nodded and smiled, trying to convey that he understood. Mara gave a small smile back. After what seemed like an eternity, they came to the landing pad and the walker lined up against the boarding corridor. After just a moment, the walker's hatch hissed open. Luke and Mara were ushered out into the docking corridor and there, coming towards them with heavy strides was none other than Darth Vader. Despite every mental preparation she had made, Mara Jade's blood froze.

 **Updated May 24, 2016**


	8. Chapter 8: The Final Conflicts

_Mara. MARA! It's going to be okay. Listen to my voice._

Mara Jade took several deep, calming breaths as she tried to listen to what Luke Skywalker said. On the outside, she knew she looked completely dispassionate but on the inside, she was waging a war with all of her childhood fears. Darth Vader had always terrified her, ever since she was a small girl learning from the best instructors the Empire had to offer.

 _He's going to kill me, Luke! I can feel it! He's going to ignore the emperor's wishes and KILL ME!_

Luke watched as the Dark Lord put a hand to his lightsaber, the black masked face staring directly at Mara. _Then he'll kill me too._

Luke placed himself directly between Darth Vader and Mara. Vader looked at Luke but the young Jedi couldn't read the masked face. Finally, the Imperial commander cleared his throat and reported, "These are the rebels who surrendered to us. Although they deny it, I think there may be more of them and request permission to search the surrounding area." The commander pulled their lightsabers and Mara's holdout blaster from his belt. "They were armed with these."

Lord Vader took the weapons and examined them. He dropped Mara's blaster and stomped on it in disgust before clipping her lightsaber next to his own on his large, black belt. Luke's lightsaber, he held in his hand. Finally, he addressed the Imperial Officer, "Good work, Commander. Continue your search and bring their companions to me."

The officer bowed and headed off with the Stormtroopers. Vader turned fully to Mara Jade. "Why have you returned, traitor? Have you decided to plea for your life or have you just gotten tired of running already?"

Mara held her head high and displayed a bravery that she certainly did not feel. "I am here to support Luke. He's going to need it when he finally realizes that you are the evil, force-forsaken monster that you and I both know you are - that you can never change from that."

Vader stared at her, the emotionless mask unable to contain the waves of hatred that rolled off him towards her. After several seconds of the two of them glaring at one another, Lord Vader turned away dismissively and began to walk towards the other side of the corridor. Luke strode up beside them and Mara hung slightly behind. Speaking to Luke, Darth Vader said almost mildly, "The emperor has been expecting you."

Luke replied in an equally non-comital voice, "I know, Father."

Vader looked over to Luke and mild surprise was mixed in his force signature. "So you have accepted the truth."

Luke turned to fully face the dark lord. "I accepted the truth that you were once Anikan Skywalker, my father."

"That name no longer has any for me."

Luke stared at him and Mara was sure that only she could recognize the pleading hidden in his voice and his face as he said, "It is the name of your true self; you have only forgotten. I know there is good in you. The Emperor hasn't driven if from you fully."

To Mara's dismay, Luke turned to face the viewport, his back to Darth Vader. The farm boy continued, "That is why you couldn't destroy me. That is why you won't take me to your emperor now."

There was silence for several moments. Suddenly, Lord Vader lifted Luke's lightsaber and ignited it. Mara took an involuntary step forward, moving protectively toward Luke but Vader was just examining the hilt. In an almost conversational tone, Lord Vader comments, "I see you have constructed a new lightsaber. Your skills are complete."

He closed the blade down and regarded Luke for a moment. "Indeed you are powerful as the Emperor has foreseen."

The two stared at each other until, in a quieter, almost pleading voice, Luke says, "Come with me."

"Obi-Wan once thought as you did." Said Vader. "You don't know the power of the dark side. I MUST obey my master."

Mara was a little surprised. Was Vader trying to convince Luke or himself now? Was that doubt in the Dark Lord's voice? No. Surely not. Luke looked sad. "I will not turn – and you'll be forced to kill me."

Vader replied simply, "If that is your destiny;"

Mara could feel the frustration inside Luke's being and felt her heart ache slightly. No matter how many times he was rejected, he would keep trying. Poor Farmboy. "Search your feelings, Father. You can't do this."

Luke began to speak quickly and desperately, "I feel the conflict within you. Let go of your hate!"

Lord Vader turns away and says, "It is too late for me, son."

Mara could swear that she heard both hesitation and REGRET in the Sith Lord's voice. Was Luke right and she wrong about Vader? Deep beneath the dark armor and shattered body and the shadows of past evils, was there still good in him?

Vader turned and signaled to a quartet of stormtroopers before saying, "The emperor will show you the true nature of the force. He is your master now."

Luke stared levelly at Darth Vader and said in a not-quite convinced voice, "Then my father is truly dead."

As they were lead away, Mara whispered, "I'm sorry, Luke."

The farm boy looked at her and smiled. "For what, Mara – for being right?"

Mara thought about it for a second and then nodded. After a moment, she whispered, "You know, we could still escape from this. It wouldn't be hard. So long as we don't get aboard that shuttle we can still make it out of this and join the others."

Luke shook his head resolutely. "Mara if you wish to go, then go. In fact, I know they could use your help and you probably should go. I need to do this. I NEED to face Darth Vader and the emperor. I know you don't believe it, but it's my destiny."

Mara sighed. She knew it wasn't going to happen but it was worth a try. "Not a chance, Farmboy. Until this whole operation is over, I'm going where you're going. You're stuck with me. Besides, I'm on probation, remember? I'm not allowed to leave your sight."

Luke chuckled at that, causing one of the Stormtroopers to look at him. In a quiet voice, Luke said, "I suppose I could be stuck with someone worse."

"Quiet, rebel scum." Snapped one of the Stormtroopers. Neither of them spoke allowed but Mara sent a thought his way. _If we're alive when this is all over, I am going to find you some professional help – and then I'm going to find ME some professional help for coming with you._

Luke couldn't keep another chuckle from escaping, earning another look, quite probably a glare, from the stormtroopers. _In the words of a great Jedi Master, 'who is the bigger fool; the fool of the fool who follows him._

Mara's facial expression was bland as she mentally asked, _Did Yoda say that one?_

 _Nope, Obi-Wan Kenobi, actually. He was my first master._

 _I remember reading about him. He was a master negotiator, a brilliant swordsman and tactical genius during the Clone Wars – at least, that's according to his files. Apparently he and Anikan Skywalker were the heroes of the galaxy._

Luke gave a mental sigh and said, _He never talked to me about the war. Neither did Yoda. When this is all over, I think I'll ask around and see if anyone in the Alliance can tell me about it._

Mara sent a mental _hmmm._ They didn't say anything else as the stormtroopers locked them in separate cells to wait for transportation in the morning. Mara felt better than she had when she had first seen Darth Vader approaching them but she was still nervous. If it wasn't for Luke, she would never have gone anywhere near the Death Star. With a sigh, she laid down on the rough cot and sent Luke a final thought before she tried to sleep. _Goodnight, Farmboy._

Luke's warm return caressed her mind affectionately. _Goodnight, Mara._

She didn't think she would ever get used to the warmth of his mental touch.

The following morning came all too soon for the two prisoners. Stormtroopers roused them roughly and escorted them to Lord Vader on the landing pad where a Lambda shuttle awaited them. From there, they were taken off the forest moon. Luke and Mara sat side by side across from Lord Vader. Luke's penetrating blue eyes were gazing at the Dark Lord, whose black mask seemed to glare back at him. Mara just leaned back and fought with all her strength against the waves of terror that kept washing over her. No one spoke during the trip. No one said anything as the shuttle landed and no one said anything as they were escorted to the turbo lift that would lead them to the throne room. When the lift doors opened, Mara took one last deep breath and held her head high, ready to face her former master. As they approached the stairs, a great throne turned away from a huge viewport and Luke looked upon the Emperor for the first time. In a cracked and wizened voice, the Emperor said, "Welcome, young Skywalker. I have been expecting you."

Palpatine then turned to Mara and said, "Ah, my trusted and faithful hand has returned to me. Well done in leading Skywalker to me, my child."

Mara spoke in a voice that did not quaver, "I did not lead him here. I came with him against you and Vader."

The Emperor just chuckled slightly. With a wave of his hands, he released the binders on both Luke's and Mara's wrists. "You will now longer need those. Guards, bring Mara Jade up here and stand over there. I will deal with her later."

Palpatine motioned to an area on the dais near a small blast door. A royal guard took each of her arms and they lead her up to the indicated place. The emperor turned back to Luke and smiled. "I am looking forward to completing your training. In time you will call me 'Master'"

Luke stared levelly at him, a confident and defiant smile on his face. "You're gravely mistaken. You won't convert me as you did my father."

The Emperor stood from his throne, his smile becoming a gleeful leer. "Oh no, my young Jedi. You will find that it is you who are mistaken - about a great MANY things."

Vader then approached his master and handed over Luke's and Mara's lightsabers. "Their lightsabers."

The Emperor took them and said, "Ah yes. A Jedi's weapon." Mara's he tucked into his wide sleeve before examining Luke's. "Much like your father's." The Emperor turned his full, evil gaze on Luke and a derisive sneer entered his voice, "By now, you must know that your father can never be turned from the dark side. So will it be with you."

Luke didn't rile or flinch. His facial expression remained much the same as it had when he entered the room. "You're wrong. Soon I'll be dead – and you with me."

The Emperor cackled evilly. "Perhaps you refer to the imminent attack of your Rebel fleet."

Both Mara and Luke sighed internally. Though they had expected him to not be surprised, they were hoping that he would not be fully aware of the situation. They were wrong. The Emperor nodded and sneered again, "Yes, I can assure you, we are quite safe from your friends here."

Luke's smile became a little wider and he said, "Your overconfidence is your weakness."

The Emperor whirled and snapped, "Your faith in your friends is yours."

Mara was a little surprised. Her former master was not one to bandy words with anyone. Was Luke getting under his wrinkly skin? Why would a barely trained Jedi Knight cause a Sith Lord to lose his normally guarded composure. Something occurred to her that made her gasp out loud, drawing the attention of the two guards. Could Emperor Palpatine, killer of dozens if not hundreds of Jedi and mastermind behind the Great Jedi Purge, fear Luke Skywalker. The thought made her smile ever so slightly. Vader said in a low voice, "It is pointless to resist, my son."

In a smug sneer, the Emperor spoke again, "Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design. Your friends on the sanctuary moon are walking into a trap, as is your rebel fleet. It was I who allowed the Alliance to know the location of the shield generator. It is quite safe from your pitiful little band. An entire legion of my best troops awaits them."

Leaning forward, the Emperor's voice became mockingly regretful as he said, "Oh I'm afraid the deflector shield will be quite operational when your friends arrive."

Despite the fact that he was aware that the Emperor had increased the defensive forces of both the garrison on the moon below and the Death Star, Mara could sense that Luke was becoming uneasy. To try and bolster his confidence, mentally said, _We knew that he probably knew we were coming, Luke. This isn't a surprise. Han and his commandos will do fine and the fleet will be here soon enough. So long as there is an open lain for the fighters, there will be nothing to worry about._

"That is enough of that, Mara Jade. It is not polite to telepathically converse when others cannot hear." Snapped the Emperor angrily. He motioned with his hand and one of the guards turned and backhanded Mara across the face. The blow stung but it didn't hurt too badly. Mara first began to feel shame. She had been struck many times that way for failing in her training. Suddenly, it was replaced by anger and pride and she stood tall and spat blood from a cut on the inside of her cheek. The Emperor's face grew stormy. "When I am done with Skywalker, I will see to your very painful execution."

He turned to Luke and sneered, "Perhaps I will have Lord Skywalker do it himself."

Luke began to feel anger rising in his own being. Seeing Mara struck and then seeing her stand tall had made him feel more confident but the idea that Palpatine would make him kill her caused a roiling of dark emotions to fill his soul. "I am no Sith Lord, Palpatine and I never will be. I will never serve you."

The Emperor's sneer returned and he said, "Oh but you will. Come, your fleet is arriving. Join me on the dais and watch. Come, Mara Jade, come and see what you have become a part of."

They both strode up to the massive circular viewport and watched as well over a hundred rebel starships dropped into view and quickly began to approach the Death Star. Seeing all the ships arrayed against the Empire, Luke looked over at Mara and they shared a private smile. It didn't last long, though. The shield was still up or else the Emperor or Darth Vader would have been contacted. It was as they had feared. The fleet would be trapped if an Imperial fleet arrived. Watching quietly, they saw hundreds of Imperial Star Destroyers and the massive Executer-Class Star Dreadnaught close in behind the rebel fleet. Luke glanced at Mara again, who looked at him. Both of them knew that things were about to go horribly wrong. The Emperor cackled and said, "See for yourself, boy. From here you will witness the final destruction of the Alliance and the end of your insignificant rebellion."

Mara could sense the distress Luke was in. Thinking fast she said allowed, "HA! Insignificant? How many weapons and super weapons have you lost to this 'insignificant' rebellion? You are as deluded as your cyborg lapdog."

Luke felt a smile tug at his lips as Palpatine's face grew livid. "How dare you even speak to me, TRAITOR!"

He lifted a hand and bolts of force lighting leapt from them, striking Mara Jade in the chest. She was lifted by the attack and sent flying back towards the guards. Luke took a step towards him, anger darkening his presence in the force. It took all of his will to maintain the fragile control on his temper. The Emperor turned to him and motioned to the viewport, saying, "As you can see my young apprentice, your friends have failed. Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station." He then pressed a button on the arm of his chair and spoke into a mic, "Fire at will, Commander."

Within moments, a massive super laser beam struck one of the rebel cruisers, destroying it and the majority of its escort ships. Luke looked horrified for several moments until his already frayed temper snapped. Giving in to his rage, he called his weapon to his had and attacked the emperor, only to have his green blade stopped by that of Darth Vader.

Mara stood shakily but, before she could move to help her friend, the two guards grabbed hold of her arms. Glaring at them in turn, she called on the force. Faster then either could keep up with, she spun out of their grip, snatched one of their force pikes and smashed hard on top of a helmeted head, cracking it and taking down the royal guard. Within a couple blows, she had subdued the other guard. Four more rushed into the room and, ignoring Vader and Skywalker fighting furiously not five meters away from the emperor, they surrounded her.

Luke parried and thrust, strike and blocked, ducked and spun, trying to keep himself from being battered down and slain and also trying to find a weakness in his opponent's defenses. Whether it was due to a natural ability not yet fully known or to the power that he had gained, Luke began to push the Dark Lord back. After a very vicious flurry, he kicked out, catching Vader in the chest and sending him backwards down the stares.

Mara didn't see any of it. She was too busy fighting off the royal guards. Even with the force as her ally, she was nearly killed or seriously injured several times – but she had been the emperor's hand. She knew all the regimens and techniques of the royal guard. More importantly, the force WAS her ally. Finally, as Lord Vader strode up the stares and attacked Luke a second time, Mara's final opponent felt to the ground. Reaching out, she summoned her lightsaber and simultaneously leaped at the emperor. She grabbed the weapon and activated its maroon blade with a mighty yell. Just as she was certain she would cut her former master down, she was stopped in midair by an invisible hand. Luke was still fighting furiously with his father. Suddenly, he leaped backwards onto a catwalk and out of the dark lord's range. As she hovered in the Emperor's grip, Luke closed down his weapon and said, "Your thoughts betray you, father. I feel the good in you... the conflict."

Mara was about to scream at him in frustration when she was suddenly slammed to the floor and the lightsaber was ripped from her hand. The emperor slowly turned to her, his yellow eyes sneering down at her. "You have left my service but a short while ago and yet you are already a thorn in my side, Mara Jade. Perhaps it would be best to kill you now. Wait..."

Suddenly, Mara felt him poking around in her mind. She didn't even have time to attempt to defend her thoughts before the Emperor had withdrawn. Palpatine burst into scornful laughter and sneered at her. "You believe that he is falling in love with you, Mara Jade? Fool! Who could love something like you – an assassin, a thief, a traitor and a murderer. Though perhaps..."

The emperor turned towards the confrontation between father and son. Vader threw his scarlet blade, cleaving the supports to the catwalk and causing Luke to tumble down the now - inclining walk. Vader called his weapon back to him and strode down the stares after his son once again. The emperor turned back to her and said, "You are his friend. Perhaps one final push is all it will take to send him fully to the dark side. Perhaps if I kill you..." And he struck her with a bolt of lightning, causing her to cry out in pain. It had been many years since she had felt such pain. The force lightning, as much as the loyalty she had felt for the emperor, had been her motivation to never fail a mission except her last one. Again he struck her, and again, cackling sadistically each time as she screamed. The emperor turned at the sound of an angry roar from under the stairs. Luke was driving Vader before him until he was out from under the stairs. Laughing, the Emperor struck her again with force lightning, this time allowing a long stream of the force energy to blast into her. She screamed a loud, incoherent scream and felt tears rolling down her face. Suddenly, she felt Luke's awareness of her plight and he stopped his vicious assault on Darth Vader. "Mara!"

Palpatine laughed again and sent forth another torrent of lightning. Unable to bare the pain, Mara screamed, "Luke! Help me, please! Luke..." Before all speech became another feral, incoherent scream.

Luke looked from Vader to the Emperor again and again. "Let her die. Let her death fuel your rage." Said Lord Vader. Taking a deep breath, Luke gathered the force. With a telekinetic blast, he sent Vader flying across the throne room before turning and leaping over towards the Emperor. His mind was torn for a moment between simply killing the evil man or standing between him and Mara. Though it was a matter of moments, it seemed as though time had stopped. Everything that Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi had ever taught him about the dark side passed through his mind. At that moment, he made his decision. With a leap, Luke placed himself between Mara and the Emperor, catching the torrents of force lightning on the blade of his lightsaber. The emperor stopped and glared at him. "You fool. You had your chance to kill me yet you saved the girl."

With irresistible power, the emperor seized Luke, lifted him and wrenched the lightsaber from his hand before slamming him into a nearby bulkhead and blasting Mara Jade again with more force lightning. Staggering up, Luke leaped again, placing his own unprotected body between the emperor and Mara. Using the force, Luke tried to block the powerful attacks but the force lightning blasted through his defenses and he felt pain the like of which he had never experienced. The emperor glared at Luke again and said, "I can feel your anger and your hate. Give in to them. Take up your weapon, strike me down with all of your hatred. Complete your journey to the dark side and take my place. Or attack your father and destroy him. Take his place at my side. Let us rule this Empire together and bring peace to the galaxy again."

Lord Vader stood behind the emperor now, his weapon unlit it his black gloved hand. Luke looked at his father – a monster who had to waer an armored life support suit simply to stay alive. Looking down at his prosthetic right hand, twitching and smarting still from the force lightning, it dawned on Luke how close he had actually come to giving in and becoming that specter he had fought in the cave on Dagobah so long ago during his training with Yoda. Standing and taking a deep breath, Luke said, "No. I'll never turn to the dark side. You have failed, your highness. I am a Jedi – like my father before me."

The very air became colder and silence stretched for several long moments before the emperor said, "So be it, Jedi."

Mara knew that it was over but she couldn't give up yet. Her body was wracked with pain and she could tell that the damage was severe. Even so, she tried to stand until the baleful yellow eyes fell on her, pinning her in place. After just a moment, Palpatine focused back on Luke, a far more urgent threat. "If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed."

Once again, the emperor unleashed torrents of force lightning. Once again, Luke tried to wrap himself in the force. It was only marginally successful as the force lightning blasted through the barrier and he spun and collapsed to his knees. Worse even than losing his hand to a lightsaber, the pain was unfathomable. As if to prolong the suffering, the emperor stopped again. Luke opened his eyes and found himself facing Mara. Her green eyes gazed into his filled with fear and frustration and sorrow. "I'm so sorry..." Said Luke before the emperor interrupted, "Young fool – only now at the end do your understand."

Another blast struck Luke, causing him to cry out himself. But he refused to move, knowing that if he did, Mara would die. She looked into his eyes when they opened again. "We only have to hold a little longer. I see rebel fighters coming. The shield is down." She whispered. The cracked voice said, "Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the dark side. You have payed the price for your lack of vision."

Again Luke screamed as a stream of intensifying lightning blasted him. In a last effort, Luke called, "Father please, help me."

After what seemed like an eternity, Emperor stopped again and said, "And now, young Skywalker, you will die."

Luke knelt there, groaning, his eyes not leaving Mara's as tears rolled down her cheeks. If he died, he wanted her to be last person that he saw. Mara's heart burned. This young man had changed her life. The thought that he would die tore her apart. Suddenly, the Emperor attacked again. As Luke screamed and writhed, Mara groaned and wrapped her arms around him. The force lightning arced from his body to hers and she screamed with him. Placing her forehead against his and holding on tight, Mara pressed one thought through her mind against the pain. _If you're going to die, so am I. If you're going to die, so am I._

Suddenly, there was a roar from behind Luke and the attack stopped. Luke forced his burning body to turn and he saw Darth Vader attack the Emperor with a telekinetic blast, sending the shriveled man off the dais and almost all the way back to the turbo lift. Vader turned to Luke. "Son, help me. I can't defeat him alone."

Luke looked at his father through bleary eyes. Kneeling down, Vader placed a hand on Luke's back and said, "Take some of my strength, son. I can't defeat him without you."

Mara was more than shocked. She still held the farm boy and stared into the dark mask. Suddenly, a roar came from the direction of the turbo lifts. Like a dark, avenging demon, the emperor approached. Mara's lightsaber was in his hand and he screamed, "You have betrayed me for the last time, Anikan Skywalker. Now you and your son will die."

Vader stood and his scarlet blade ignited with a snap-hiss. Luke stood again. Though he was not fully recovered, he summoned his lightsaber to him and ignited it. Mara tried to stand as well but the damage to her body was too extensive. Vader looked down at her and after a moment, he said, "We won't leave you, Jade. I promise you and my son will make it out of here alive."

By then, the Emperor had bounded up the stairs and attacked with all the viciousness of hate itself. The Skywalkers fought as though they had fought together a thousand times, working in perfect synchronization to bring down the emperor. At first it looked as though the emperor couldn't possibly withstand them but then his own long forgotten lightsaber skills returned to him and he drove them both the length of the dais. With a kick, Palpatine sent Luke somersaulting through the air. He managed to land on his feet and attacked again, beginning with a blast of telekinetic energy that sent drove the Emperor away from the elder Skywalker. Anikan Skywalker attacked with the determination he had once been famous for and his son proved that they were one blood. After minutes of fighting where neither side seemed to gain or lose ground, the emperor roared. "ENOUGH!"

With a blast of telekinetic force, the Skywalkers were sent flying back. The Emperor lifted his arms and blasted back Luke. His focus was devoted to the elder Skywalker now. With the vengeance of a demon, he attacked the dark armored man. To Mara's surprise, Anikan Skywalker held his own. He stayed defensive as the evil old man leaped and flitted around him, trying to find a weakness. The younger Skywalker leaped in again and again – and again and again a telekinetic or force lightning blast sent him hurdling back out of the fight. Mara screamed in frustration as she tried again to stand and fight but her limbs were weak from the pain. Since she couldn't move, she gathered the force to her as much as she could.

The Emperor managed to disarm the elder Skywalker and had both of them writhing in pain as he blasted them with force lightning, their lightsabers rolling at their knees. With a single blast, Mara hit the emperor with telekinetic force, launching him towards the Skywalkers. They both ignited their weapons and attacked – Luke swinging high and Anikan thrusting low. The Emperor reflexively blocked the green blade coming at his head but missed the blade that he impaled himself on. "With that, I pay some of the debt I owe this galaxy." Said the former Darth Vader as the emperor gasped his life's breath out. With a final telekinetic blast, the elder Skywalker sent Emperor Palptaine's body out over the edge of an exhaust shaft. Suddenly, a swirl of dark side energy flew up from the shaft and dissipated. Luke staggered upward and went straight to his father. "Get to Jade," said the dark armored man who was slowly making his way to his feet. Luke half ran, half staggered over to Mara. She was barely conscious as she looked up into Luke's eyes. "We… did… it… farm…boy…"

Luke cradled her head. "No, no, you are not dying, Mara. You're not…"

"Luke, let me see her. It has been many years since I have used a Jedi healing trance. Let us hope I can still do this. Luke, pay close attention;"

Luke looked into the black mask of his father as the elder Skywalker explained, "With Jedi healing trances, they can be administered by one's self or by another and can be done so for a pre-determined time or set to a pre-determined phrase. I'm setting her to the phrase 'Anikan Skywalker says thank you for saving his son'."

Reaching out a gloved hand, the former dark lord concentrated. Suddenly, Mara went limp in Luke's arms. "WHAT? NO!"

"Luke, it worked. Her vitals have dropped to next to nothing but examine her in the force – see, she is still alive."

Luke did and was relieved to sense her presence. Suddenly, the entire station beneath them trembled. Anikan was up, lifting Mara Jade from Luke's arms. "The rebels have succeeded. Luke we have to get to the emperor's private hanger. When we get to his shuttle, I will put you in a trance as well."

"What about you? Can you be put in this trance?"

They both staggered along as the station continued to shake around them. The hanger wasn't far from the throne room. The elder Skywalker replied, "My life supports are failing slowly. The force lightning has done its work. I can get the two of you to the moon's surface but after that, I won't have long."

"There has to be something we can do, Father. Why can't that Jedi trance help you?"

Anikan was long in responding and when he did, there was no mistaking the sadness in his voice. "My body is too reliant on the life support system. It is how the emperor rebuilt me all those years ago. There is nothing that can be done in the time that we have, son. But I can save you and Mara Jade."

A tear rolled down Luke's face. "I won't lose you, not now father. I have to save you."

Anikan turned to his son as they entered the hanger. "You already have, Luke. You were right about me. All along, even when I denied it, you saw the good in me. You were right about me."

They made it to the shuttle and rushed up the ramp as fast as their battered and weary limbs could take them. The elder Skywalker laid Mara Jade on the bench and strode up front. Luke strapped her in before collapsing on the bench across from her, his last vestiges of energy finally spent. The elder Skywalker took off and had them away from the Death Star within minutes – but they weren't far enough to avoid feeling a small effect of the massive shock wave as the battle station exploded. As soon as he had a course set, the dark armored man stood and staggered back towards the passenger space. "Lie down, Luke. Let me strap you in. I will put you in a trance for eight hours. You should be fully recovered by then."

"Wait, father. What do I do from here? What can I do since the Emperor is dead and you…" Luke couldn't get the last words out.

There was warmth, barely detectable in Anikan Skywalker's voice, even through the vocabulator. "You must find and train knew Jedi, Luke. You must help rebuild the Republic. Undo all of my work, my son. Make right my wrongs. Please, Luke."

As Anikan Skywalker gripped his son's shoulder, Luke looked into the dark mask and said, "I will, father. I promise."

The elder Skywalker gently squeezed his son's shoulder before raising his hand. The last thing Luke remembered was the gloved hand less than a half a meter over his face.

 **Updated May 24, 2015**


	9. Final Chapter: Celebrating Victory

Luke woke slowly from the Jedi healing trance that his father, Anikan Skywalker had put him in. It was dark outside, though there were many lights that flickered. Judging by the smells and sounds, Luke could tell he was back on the forest moon of Endor. With a groan, Luke sat up and was elated to feel no pain, just a little stiffness from lying still for so long. "Luke!"

Looking towards the voice, Luke saw Leia sitting there. She was smiling and tears began to flow from her eyes. They both stood and she threw her arms around him. In a voice that was little more than a whisper, Leia said, "I'm so glad you're okay."

Luke held her and said, "I'm glad YOU are, Leia."

They separated and Luke asked anxiously, "Where is Mara?"

His sister pointed to another bed. On the wood frame covered with firs was Mara Jade, looking peaceful. Instinctively, Luke reached out and felt that she still lived. Leia was gazing at him. "Vader – I mean – Anikan Skywalker was right. It WAS a healing trance. He DID save you."

Her voice held a small note of wonder in it. Luke smiled and said, "You got to speak to him before he died."

Leia nodded and sat down in a chair. Luke sat on his bed. After several moments of silence, Leia said, "He said that it was probably best that he died from his injuries since the Alliance would have executed him for his crimes. He also begged me to help you finish undoing all of his dark deeds which I promised to do. Finally, he apologized. Can you believe it, Luke? The man who was Darth Vader apologized. I can't forgive him but at least I no longer hate him."

Luke nodded. He was glad to hear this. With a sigh, Leia stood and rubbed her temples tiredly. "I'm going to go get the others. They wanted to see you as soon as you woke up. We also had a funeral pyre built for Anikan Skywalker. It's waiting for you to light it."

A tear came to Luke's eye and he smiled. "Thank you, Leia. I'm going to wake up Mara."

Leia looked a little hesitant. "Are you sure you should? It looked like she was much worse off and the medical droid we had transported from the medical frigate _Redemption_ said that we should let her sleep a few hours longer than you."

Luke looked over at the beautiful young woman. After a few moments, he said, "You're probably right. Let's go find the others and let's set Father's funeral pyre."

Leia nodded and they ducked out of the ewok house that Luke had been lying in. Outside, quite a party was going on. Ewoks, rebel commandos and some of the fleet's personnel were dancing on the platforms and among the structures of the village. It wasn't long before Luke saw Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissina and several other familiar faces. Smiling, they all rushed towards him. Han wrapped him in a big hug and pounded his back. Chewie did the same, followed by Lando, Wedge Antilles and many others. It was some time before he was able to go down to the pyre that had been set up for Anikan Skywalker. The former dark lord lay face up on the stacked wood. Luke reached up and took the lightsaber from Anikan's belt and looked at it. After a moment, he clipped it next to his own weapon. Leia took his left hand and gave it a squeeze. Looking around, Luke was surprised to see that there were quite a few people around him. Han, Leia, Chewie, Lando, Wedge and over a dozen commandos and pilots from Rogue Squadron. One of the furry little ewoks waddled up to Luke and handed him a torch with a stream of chattering. C-3PO, who came up with R2-D2 and R3-L9 behind the ewok, translated for him, "He says that it is sad when a warrior falls but that if his fall is honorable then he should be remembered with reverence."

Luke nodded. "His fall was honorable. If not for him, I would be dead and so would Mara Jade. He saved our lives and defeated the emperor."

Stepping forward, Luke thrust the torch into the wood. Quickly, the fire spread until the whole pyre was engulfed in flames. No one said anything. No one knew what to say. In singles and pairs, the rebels drifted back to the celebration until only Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Lando and the droids remained. R3-L9 beeped and whistled and Luke knelt down in front of her. C-3PO translated the little droid. "She wants to know Mistress Mara Jade's condition."

Luke smiled and patted R3's dome. "She's going to be okay, R3. I'm about to go back and have the medical droid check on her again. As long as he says she is okay to waken, then I will wake her up."

The droid whistled excitedly and bounced from leg to leg. "She says that she would be most grateful if you would, Master Luke."

Standing, Luke turned one final time towards the fire and sighed. The armor was alight itself and gave off a bitter, acrid scent. Luke breathed it in and then turned away. "Come on. We can't miss the party;" said Han Solo, throwing an arm around Luke's shoulders and Leia's waist and gently guided them back towards the village. Luke went straight to the house that he had woken up in. The medical droid was already checking on Mara. "Whatever it is that is being used to heal Lieutenant Jade is working a miracle. According to my scan all internal and external damage is completely healed. My only concerns are that her vitals are impossibly low and that she will not wake up, Colonel Skywalker."

Luke smiled at the droid and said, "I can fix that." He knelt down next to Mara and brushed a few locks of red-gold hair off her face and murmured to her. "Anikan Skywalker says thank you for saving his son."

Mara's eyes flickered open and she sat up slowly and stretched with a groan. For over a minute, without a word or a thought passing between them, they gazed at each other. Twin smiles crossed their faces and Mara burst into joyful laughter. With a lunge, she tackled Luke with a huge hug, still laughing. Luke sat up with his arms around her. "We did it! We did it, Luke! Emperor Palpatine is dead and..."

She suddenly, leaned back and looked at him with absolute wonder on her face. In a voice barely above a whisper, she said, "… and you were right! Darth Vader had good in him. He saved us and got us off the Death Star, didn't he? You were right about him all along!"

She just stared at him in open-mouthed wonderment. With a chuckle, Luke used his left hand to lift her jaw before pulling her to him again. _You saved my life. While Palpatine was attacking me, you saved me._

Mara savored the touch of his mind and replied, _I only returned the favor. Besides, no one like you should ever have to die for someone like me._

With a most serious look, Luke pulled away and gazed into her eyes. "Mara, you are no less or more important than I am and you are too important to me to let you die. I would gladly die for you if I ever had to."

Mara shook her head vehemently. "I would never let you." She placed a finger on Luke's lips, forestalling his argument and smiled impishly at him. "Why are we arguing? Is that a party I hear outside, Farmboy?"

Luke chuckled and they stood. "Yes it's a party. Let's go and join in the festivities. The emperor is dead and the Death Star is destroyed. It's a great day – or night I guess."

They both ducked out of the house and a great cheer went up from the rebels who saw them. Leia and Han walked up and, to her surprise, hugged Mara. Chewie did the same and Lando, as smooth as he ever was, took her hand and kissed it. Many of the other rebels came and shook her hand, congratulating her on her heroic part. Apparently the news that she had saved Colonel Skywalker's life during the battle with the emperor had spread and she was treated as a hero. "I'm no hero;" she muttered to herself. Luke chuckeld beside her and said, "You're my hero, Mara."

She blushed deeply and looked down. "I can't be your hero, Luke."

The Farmboy was a little confused. "Why can't you be?"

Mara looked him in the eye and placed a hand on his arm. "Because you're my hero, Farmboy."

Luke blushed and averted his eyes. He didn't feel worthy of title. He never had.

Mara wrapped her arms around him and whispered in his ear, "No one is more worthy of it."

Luke smiled and was about to disagree when he suddenly stared away from her towards the forest. "Luke what..."

Mara didn't finish her question as she saw the three ghostly figures on the edge of the platform. She recognized Yoda but not the other two. "Who are they?"

Luke smiled and a tear rolled down his cheek. "The older looking one is Obi-Wan Kenobi and the younger one is my father before he became the dark lord."

Mara looked in wonderment. After a moment, she looked back at Luke and put her arm around him in a half hug. As the celebration continued late into the night, Mara Jade began to cry tears of joy and relief. Finally, she was safe from Emperor Palpatine's will and from his wrath. Mara Jade was her own person now. She had friends, good ones who would help her when she needed it and who would not judge her for her past deeds. Looking at Luke Skywalker, her first and closest friend, she realized that the possibilities for the future were endless.

After the celebration in the ewok villages, an award ceremony was held on board the Alliance flagship _Home One_. Luke, Mara, Han, Leia, Lando, Wedge and many others were given high commendations for their parts in the Battle of Endor. General Solo and his command staff were a little distressed to hear that, after the destruction of the Death Star, most of the Imperial fleet fled, including the former Darth Vader's flagship the _Executer_. Their worries were forgotten quickly, however. Most of the Imperial ships that stayed were destroyed and a few were even captured – Imperial Star Destroyers being in the hands of the Rebel Alliance added to the reason to celebrate.

After the ceremony, the hanger bays of _Home One_ had all of its fighters, gunships, shuttles, landing craft and freighters pushed and racked tightly to the sides or moved to other cruisers or external docking hatches, leaving large areas of open space. It was there that the Alliance celebration was after the ceremony was held. Everyone – pilots, soldiers, commandos, marines, officers, techs and other various service personnel milled about but the vast majority were dancing to the beat of music blasted over one of the ship's intercom systems.

Mara had been standing next to Luke as person after person came and shook their hands, offering congratulations, gratitude and other various praises for their parts. After the umpteenth official, Mara had stood up on her toes and murmured in Luke's ear, "I'll be around, Farmboy. Come find me when you're done."

Luke wanted nothing more to go with her immediately but he knew that it would offend any who he ignored or left before greeting. Over a hundred handshakes, backslaps and other forms of greetings and pleasant words, Han decided that Luke had had enough and said in a loud voice, "Look, I know the kid took on Vader and the emperor but that was just one part of a larger battle. Let's not forget Lando and Wedge."

Any who had not already done so converged on Lando, Wedge and Han, wanting to meet them also and leaving Luke to his own devices. With a grateful sigh, Luke picked up a tumbler from a tray carried by a passing protocol droid and took a sip, pulling a face at bitterness of Correllian whiskey. As he sipped the drink, he strode over to the edge of dais where the ceremony had been conducted and looked over the crowds of revelers. His eyes wandered until they fell on the groups of dancers. In their midst, Luke caught sight of the fiery red-gold hair of Mara Jade. She was surrounded by a group of eager young Alliance males, all of which were wisely keeping their distance strictly at arm's length, hoping that she would invite one of them to dance with her or maybe accept their invitation to dance with them. In an instant, Luke saw her turn to him and he heard her in his mind. _Meet me on the_ Ouster _, Luke. I need to tell you something._

Still holding his mostly full tumbler of whiskey, Luke quick-marched to the Suwantek TL-1800 freighter that belonged to Mara Jade. The ramp was lowered when he got there and he strode in. R3 whistled and beeped cheerfully at him as she rolled away from the engine compartment. Luke gave a quick scan of the ship through the force and found Mara in the recreation area of the freighter. She was in there, leaning against the bulkhead and wearing a leather jumpsuit identical to the one that she had warn when they had first met. It hugged her figure snuggly and Luke privately liked it when she ware them. Mara cocked an eyebrow at him and said, "Whiskey? You? I thought you said you never drink, Farmboy."

Luke chuckled and replied, "I think this occasion warrants a single celebratory drink. Everything okay, Mara?

Mara nodded but didn't meet his eye. Luke didn't push the issue. When she wanted to tell him, she would or else she wouldn't have brought him on board. After several minutes of silence, Mara took a deep breath and said, "I'm going to be leaving soon, Luke."

Luke nodded slowly, digesting what she had just said and what it meant. After moments of silence, he simply asked, "Why?"

Mara hesitated as if she had expected more than that. Then she said, "I need to go out and find my own way in this galaxy. I need to be completely free to make my own decisions without an immediate authority over my head. I need to be free from the rules of organizations."

Luke gazed into her emerald eyes as she spoke. With a harsh bark of laughter, she said, "I don't know how to explain it, Luke. I'm trying but I'm making a mess of this."

Luke nodded his head and said in a quiet voice, "I understand. I wish I could convince you otherwise. I wish you could find your place here with the Alliance. You know we could use you. And I…" but he stopped himself. The silence stretched and Mara finally whispered, "and you what?"

Luke sighed deeply and looked into his tumbler. "I'm going to miss you, Mara."

Mara's heart skipped a few beats and she immediately began to rethink leaving. After just a moment, she shook off the doubt. She had to do this. Straightening up, she walked over and put a hand on his arm. "Hey, buck up, Farmboy. I'm not leaving right now. I'm not leaving for a few days at the very earliest. Alliance Intelligence and Special Operations asked me to stay and help them work with the data I provided and with the data they gathered from the Imperial ships they took."

Luke tried to cheer up but the idea of Mara leaving was too depressing. She reached up and placed a hand on his cheek, forcing him to look at her. "Hey. I'm going to miss you too. This isn't going to be forever, Farmboy. I just need this time. However long it is, I promise, I won't forget about you and I'll stay in contact."

Luke sighed again and took another pull at his drink. This elicited a chuckle from Mara, causing him to look at her with a small frown. "What's so funny?" Luke asked a little sulkily, which only made her giggle more. "You, Farmboy, trying to drown your sorrows in Correllian whiskey before we're even actually parted."

Luke didn't think it was funny. Finally, with a dramatic sigh, Mara said, "Finish your drink, Farmboy."

He looked at her quizzically. Mara explained, "I want to dance with you. You can't dance with a glass in your hand so finish it up."

Luke shook his head. "Mara, I'm not much for dancing. I'm not very good at it and I don't enjoy it too much."

With a dazzling smile, Mara pulled herself closer to him and whispered in his ear, "Really? You don't think you would enjoy dancing with me, Farmboy?"

Luke felt his heart begin to race. To make it worse, she placed a gentle hand on his chest and said, "It isn't hard. I can show you some of the simpler movements and that's all you'll need to do."

Luke felt his resolve wavering. Slowly, he shook his head and said, "I don't know, Mara…" and he took another large gulp of his drink, leaving less than a third of it left. With an exasperated sigh, Mara took the tumbler and downed the rest of his drink before saying, "Listen, Farmboy, you and I both know how this is going to end."

Luke smiled himself but didn't quite concede. Mara wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in, whispering in a silky purr, "Please, Luke. Please dance with me."

With that, Luke knew there was no way he was going to get out of it. More surprising to himself, he found he didn't want to get out of it anymore. Blushing fiercely and with a nervous smile, Luke nodded. Mara tried to hide the triumph she felt but it still shown in her emerald eyes. She took his hands and led him out of the ship.

On the dance floor, Mara didn't bother trying to speak. The music was too loud. Instead, she used their link to talk. _Listen to the music, Luke. Let it surround you and flow through you. Let it penetrate you and let it help guide your actions. You see, music is a lot like the force in that it can do so, albeit to a much lesser extent. There, you're getting it. Just sway a little and step in time with the music. See, that's not so hard._

Luke took her advice and allowed and music to flow through him. Once she was certain he was getting it, Mara began to dance too. While he was just stepping and shuffling to the music, she was swaying and twisting and bouncing in a way that left Luke utterly hypnotized. Time, space and events ceased to matter as he and Mara danced closely together. She turned away from him but did not move any further away. Instead, she moved closer with the turn until she was only about a half a meter away. Luke could smell her hair and it was even more intoxicating than the whiskey he had been drinking. As if of their own accord, his hands moved forward and placed themselves lightly on Mara's swaying hips. In response, she move even closer, her own hands running through her hair. They were mere centimeters apart now and Luke felt as though he was on the very edge of a deep lake. He saw the clear water and it looked utterly beautiful but had no idea what was waiting for him there.

Mara slowly moved her hands from her hair, down her body until they rested on his own. Using her hands to hold his in place, she spun to face him before slowly drawing her hands up his forearms, his upper arms and his shoulders. Finally, they wrapped loosely around his neck and with a single gentle pull, their bodies touched. _Close your eyes, Luke. Listen to the music. Let it wash completely over you._

As if in a trance, Luke obeyed. He closed his eyes and gave himself over to the music. Nothing mattered to him in that moment except the music that played and the woman he held. The feeling of euphoria was indescribable. Luke felt as though he would never feel so alive as he did at that very moment – that is until he felt a pair of soft lips press to his own. Slowly, he opened his eyes in a state of partial shock. After a moment, just one single moment, he closed them and returned Mara's kiss. His right hand moved from her hips to the small of her back where he pulled her even more tightly against him while his left hand moved quickly, yet gently up her back and her neck to tangle in her glorious main of red – gold hair. He felt more than heard a low moan escape her lips. Suddenly, the moment ended as a dozen Correllian whoops filled the air. Snapping back to reality, they both looked to see Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Wedge Antilles and a group of other rebels clapping, laughing and looking at them with delight.

Luke blushed and was about to separate when Mara's grip around his neck tightened somewhat and one hand moved to his cheek to move his face and eyes back towards her. _Farmboy, why are you looking at those idiots?_

Luke didn't answer. He just gazed into those magnificent eyes and, as she moved in to kiss him again, he moved faster and pressed his lips against hers. The music, the passion and the atmosphere all added to the fire that filled them both. After what seemed both like an eternity and all too short a time, they separated again, gasping for breath. They had stopped dancing altogether and so had all of the other rebels in the immediate vicinity to them. Luke Skywalker gazed into Mara Jade's eyes and asked through the force, _Are you sure you have to leave?_

There was no denying his mind was clouded. Mara had to think about the question for several minutes, her own mind none to clear. When she had registered it, she smiled and pulled Luke back in. As their lips pressed together once again, she had to ask herself, do _I really have to leave?_

 **I hope you enjoyed this story. I would first like to state that I do not own Star Wars or any of the characters, places or objects in this story. The components of this story were a combination of the work of George Lucas and Timothy Zahn. I will not make any money from this.**

 **Yes, this is the last chapter of this fanfiction. As always, please read and review. In your reviews, please inform me if you want me to continue this story's line with another. If enough people request it, I would be happy to write another one. Thank you all for reading, reviewing, favorite-ing and following. Sharing a love of the Star Wars legends universe with others is the reason I write and if no one enjoyed it, I wouldn't write it.**

 **So I have started the next part of this story. It takes place six months after Endor and, I have to say, I pretty proud of it. It's called "A host from the past". Please read it and review on what you think.**

 **Update May 24, 2016**


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